John won his sole European Tour title at the 1972 Benson and Hedges Match Play Championship where he defeated Neil Coles in the final but then had to wait until the 1998 Senior Tournament of Champions before he tasted another major success. He financed his early career on The European Tour by selling shares in himself and is now a successful coach. John dropped to 96th on the Order of Merit in 2001 having missed three cuts in five starts but retains Tour membership on account of the fact that he was between 54th on the final 2001 Career Money List. The Englishman was named on two Ryder Cup sides but was not used in 1973 and featured only once in 1971 when he teamed up with Neil Coles to lose a four ball match against Frank Beard and JC Snead.