Rory Mario Trevor Sabbatini (born April 2, 1976) is a South African professional golfer.

Rory Sabbatini was born in Durban, South Africa. He started playing golf at age 4, but concentrated on it from age 12. He was recruited by the University of Arizona, turned professional in 1998 and joined the PGA Tour in 1999. He was the youngest member of the tour that year. He has four career wins on the PGA Tour and finished 2006 placed 12th on the money list. In September 2007, he reached the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.

Sabbatini tied for second at the 2007 Masters Tournament and the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Sabbatini made waves at the Wachovia Championship in May 2007 when, after leading the field by one stroke after day three and then giving up five strokes to Tiger Woods to lose the tournament on Sunday, he proclaimed that Tiger was “more beatable than ever.” Rory went on to lead the field by one after day three at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August 2007, but ended eight strokes behind Tiger Woods.

Sabbatini has represented South Africa in the World Cup four times and won the event with Trevor Immelman in 2003.

In his first Presidents Cup appearance in 2007, Sabbatini had a dismal 0-3-1 record, as the International team was defeated by the United States team.

He currently resides at Southlake, Texas, United States.

PGA Tour wins (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s) up
1. Sep. 3, 2000 Air Canada Championship -16 (68-68-67-65=268) 1 stroke Grant Waite
2. Jun. 9, 2003 FBR Capital Open -14 (68-66-68-68=270) 4 strokes Joe Durant, Fred Funk, Scott Hoch, Duffy Waldorf
3. Feb. 19, 2006 Nissan Open -13 (67-65-67-72=271) 1 stroke Adam Scott
4. May 27, 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial -14 (70-67-62-67=266) Playoff Jim Furyk, Bernhard Langer

Team appearances
World Cup (representing South Africa): 2002, 2003 (winners), 2004, 2006
Presidents Cup (International Team): 2007

Retief Goosen (born February 3, 1969) is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for several years.

Goosen was born in Pietersburg (now Polokwane), South Africa. His amateur career was briefly interrupted when he was struck by lightning twice at a young age. He turned professional in 1990, following a win in the South African Amateur Championship of the same year. His main achievements since have been two U.S. Open wins (in 2001 and 2004), and heading the European Tour Order of Merit (money list) in 2001 and 2002.

Early Life
Retief was born in Pietersburg, South Africa. Retief was the son of Theo Goosen, a local real estate agent and amateur golfer. He introduced the game of golf to Retief at an early age. Theo took a strict approach to parenting. “Look, I never made life easy for my kids,” said Theo “We never spoiled them. We never pleasurized them.” Goosen even admits that his father put pressure on him. When Goosen was fifteen he was golfing with his friend Henri Potgieter at Pietersburg Golf Club. They were playing through a small dizzle when lightning struck. Henri was knocked from his feet and when he stood back up saw Retief lying on the ground on his back. Henri retold the story to GolfWorld “I wanted to know his reaction. What I did see was his golf clubs and his golf bag. Then I saw him lying on his back. His tongue was down his throat and his eyes were backward, and he was breathing weird. He had no clothes on; they’d been burned from his body. I remember picking up his spectacles. I didn’t know what to do. It looked like he was dead. I was screaming for help. Fortunately, there were guys teeing off on the 12th hole. They came running toward us. From then on, I can’t remember much. They picked him up and put him in a car.” Goosen’s shoes had disintegrated from his feet, his underwear and watch band had melted to his body. He was unable to put his shoes on for weeks afterwords. He recovered enough to grab another set of clubs and take up the game a few weeks later. Goosen’s doesn’t remember the events that happened, but his father took his son’s survival as a sign from God as good things to come.

Career summary
Goosen had enjoyed success on the European Tour but it wasn’t until 2001 where he made his name in America with a U.S. Open win on a very tough Southern Hills Golf course. Goosen nearly lost his chance at victory after missing a short putt on the final green but managed to recover to make a play-off with the 1996 PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks. Goosen dominated the next day’s 18-hole playoff winning by two shots. He finished 2001 with three wins, 11 top-tens and the European Tour Order of Merit and followed it up with another in 2002. After his third win of the 2001 season, Goosen rose to a career-high 11th in the world.

Goosen’s second major championship and second U.S. Open title came in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. The USGA had prepared extremely tough conditions which were later argued by players as “unfair.” Goosen won the U.S. Open by two strokes over fan favorite Phil Mickelson. Goosen had 24 putts in the final round and 11 one-putts.

In 2005 Goosen was in pursuit of his third U.S. Open and his second in a row. Goosen led by three strokes after three rounds of golf at the Pinehurst No. 2 course. However Goosen disappeared in the final round with a score of 81 and he ended up finishing in 11th place. In an interview after his round Goosen said “I messed up badly. I obviously threw this one away.”

Goosen has been a consistent player: he has won internationally every year since 1995, and also won a PGA Tour event every year from 2001 to 2005. Additionally, he has spent a long period of time in the top 5 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and in 2006 reached a career-best third place, but since late 2006 he has had a dip in performance.

2007 was an average season for Goosen’s standards. A victory at the Qatar Masters in January - when he finished birdie-eagle for the win, looked to be a sign of things to come along with being the European Tour player of the month in January. Goosen posed a threat on the final day at The Masters. He held the lead till a bogey on the par-three twelve, Goosen failed to rebound paring each of his six remaining holes including two short par-fives. He finished tied for second, two behind Zach Johnson. However after this Goosen’s best finish throughout the rest of the year was a tie for 15th at the BMW Asian Open, and he ended 2007 having slumped down to 26th in the world rankings.

At the start of 2008 Goosen withdrew from the Qatar Masters as defending champion due to problems with his vision after undergoing corrective laser surgey ten days before the tournament began. He was forced to return to his home in London, England for further treatment.

Goosen is known for his extremely calm demeanor, a trait that has earned him the nickname “The Iceman” on the PGA Tour. He is also affectionately called “The Goose.” The term unflappable is a term commonly connect with Retief because of his attitude on the course. Goosen’s mother attributes her son’s calm demeanor because of the effects left on Goosen after he was struck by lightning.

He is now married with a son and daughter, and has homes in Ascot, Berkshire, England and Orlando, Florida, U.S. as well as retaining residence in Polokwane, South Africa

Major Championships

Wins (2)
Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runners Up
2001 U.S. Open Tied for lead -4 (66-70-69-71=276) Playoff 1 Mark Brooks
2004 U.S. Open (2) 2 stroke lead -4 (70-66-69-71=276) 2 strokes Phil Mickelson

1 Defeated Brooks in 18-hole playoff: Goosen (70), Brooks (72)

PGA Tour wins (6)
2001 (1) U.S. Open
2002 (1) BellSouth Classic
2003 (1) Chrysler Championship
2004 (2) U.S. Open, The Tour Championship
2005 (1) The INTERNATIONAL
Major championships are shown in bold.

European Tour wins (14)
Legend
Major Championships (2)
Other European Tour (12)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s) up
1. June 16, 1996 Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge -11 (66-69-70-72=277) 2 strokes Ross Drummond
2. June 29, 1997 Peugeot Open de France -17 (64-67-70-70=271) 1 stroke Jamie Spence
3. May 9, 1999 Novotel Perrier Open de France -12 (69-65-68-70=271) Playoff Greg Turner
4. September 17, 2000 Trophée Lancôme -13 (69-71-64-67=271) 1 stroke Michael Campbell
5. June 17, 2001 U.S. Open -4 (66-70-69-71=279) Playoff Mark Brooks
6. July 15, 2001 The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond -16 (62-69-66-71=268) 3 strokes Thomas Bjørn
7. October 28, 2001 Telefonica Open de Madrid -20 (66-64-66-68=264) Playoff Steve Webster
8. January 27, 2002 Johnnie Walker Classic -14 (70-68-63-73=274) 8 strokes Pierre Fulke
9. September 14, 2003 Trophée Lancôme -18 (63-65-68-70=266) 4 strokes Paul McGinley
10. June 20, 2004 U.S. Open -4 (70-66-69-71=276) 2 strokes Phil Mickelson
11. July 4, 2004 Smurfit European Open -13 (69-66-72-68=275) 5 strokes Richard Green, Peter O’Malley, Lee Westwood
12. September 1, 2005 Linde German Masters -20 (67-68-66-67=268) 1 stroke Nick Dougherty
13. December 18, 2005 South African Airways Open -10 (73-70-69-70=282 1 stroke Ernie Els
14. January 28, 2007 Qatar Masters -15 (65-68-71-69=273) 1 stroke Nick O’Hern

Goosen’s two U.S. Open wins are repeated here because the three major championships played in the U.S. have been part of the European Tour’s schedule since 1998.

Sunshine Tour wins (9)
1991 Iscor Newcastle Classic
1992 Spoornet Classic, Bushveld Classic, Witbank Classic
1993 Mount Edgecombe Trophy
1995 Phillips South African Open
2002 Dimension Data Pro-Am
2004 Nedbank Golf Challenge
2005 South African Airways Open (co-sanctioned with European Tour)

Other wins (4)
2003 Tiger Skins Game
2005 Volkswagen Masters-China (Asian Tour)
2006 Volkswagen Masters-China (Asian Tour), Nelson Mandela Invitational (unofficial money event in South Africa; with Bobby Lincoln)

Team appearances
Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing South Africa): 1995, 1996, 1997 (winners), 1998 (winners), 1999, 2000
World Cup (representing South Africa): 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001 (winners), 2007
Presidents Cup (International team): 2000, 2003 (Draw), 2005, 2007

Arthur D’Arcy “Bobby” Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was one of the first internationally successful South African golfers.

Locke was born in Germiston, South Africa. He played in his first British Open in 1936, when he was eighteen, and finished as low amateur. He turned professional two years later and was a prolific tournament winner in his native country, eventually accumulating 38 wins on the Southern Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour). His golf career was interrupted by service in the South African Air Force during World War II.

Locke resumed his career in America in 1946, and played a series of exhibitions against Sam Snead, one of the top American golfers of the day, winning 12 out of 14 matches. So impressed was Snead that he invited Bobby to come to the United States and give the PGA Tour a try, advice that Locke quickly followed. In two-and-a-half years on the PGA Tour, Locke played in 59 events; he won eleven, and finished in the top three in thirty — just over half. In 1947, Locke dominated the American tour, winning six tournaments (including four in a five-week period) and finishing second to Jimmy Demaret on the money list. Even more remarkably, Locke did all this after arriving in the United States for the first time in April.

In 1948, he won the Chicago Victory National by 16 strokes, which, as of 2006, remains a PGA Tour record for margin of victory. The following year, Locke was banned from the tour because of a dispute over playing commitments. The ban was lifted in 1951, but Locke chose not to return to play in the United States. Despite (or perhaps because of) his success, many American players disliked Locke, though not for anything Locke did. They simply resented a foreign player arriving on tour and “raiding” the prize money, as the highly skilled Locke often did.

Locke built his success around his outstanding putting ability, coining the phrase “You drive for show, but putt for dough.” Wearing his trademark knickers, white shoes, and stockings, Locke played the game at a slow and deliberate pace, perhaps another reason that American pros were annoyed with him. Locke placed great emphasis on accuracy in hitting fairways and greens, and employed an extreme right-to-left ball flight (one that bordered on a hook) for nearly every shot. On the greens, Locke was a bona fide genius, using a strange putting style (he would bring the putter back far to the inside, then “cut” it with a hooded approach) and a great eye for reading breaks to put on veritable putting clinics every time he played. Locke believed he could put spin on putts (similar to full-swing shots) and make them “hook” and “slice”, and used his unorthodox technique to great success.

After leaving the PGA Tour, Locke continued his career in Europe and Africa, where he felt more comfortable. He won twenty-three times in Europe, most notably a quartet of successes in the British Open titles, which came in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957. In 1959, Locke was involved in a serious car accident, and subsequently he suffered from migraines and eye problems that put an end to his competitive career.

Locke was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977. He was the first member who did not come from either the United States or the United Kingdom. He died in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1987.

PGA Tour wins (15)
1947 (6) Canadian Open, Houston Open, Philadelphia Inquirer Open, All American Open, Columbus Open, Goodall Round Robin
1948 (2) Phoenix Open, Chicago Victory Open
1949 (3) Cavalier Invitational, Goodall Round Robin, The Open Championship
1950 (2) All American Open, The Open Championship
1952 (1) The Open Championship
1957 (1) The Open Championship
Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins
1931 South Africa Boys
1935 South African Open, South Africa Amateur, Natal Open, Natal Amateur, Transvaal Amateur
1936 Natal Open, Natal Amateur, Lucifer Empire Trophy
1937 South African Open, South Africa Amateur, Transvaal Amateur, Orange Free State Amateur
1938 South African Open, Irish Open, New Zealand Open, South Africa Professional, Transvaal Open
1939 South African Open, Dutch Open, South Africa Professional, Transvaal Open
1940 South African Open, Transvaal Open, South Africa Professional
1946 South African Open, South Africa Professional, Transvaal Open, Yorkshire Evening News, British Masters, Brand Lochryn Tournament
1947 Carolinas Open, Carolinas PGA Championship
1948 Carolinas Open
1949 Transvaal Open
1950 South African Open, South Africa Professional, Transvaal Open, Dunlop Tournament, Spalding Tournament, North British Tournament
1951 South African Open, Transvaal Open, South Africa Professional
1952 French Open, Mexican Open, Lotus Tournament, Carolinas Open
1953 French Open, Natal Open
1954 Egyptian Open, German Open, Swiss Open, Dunlop Tournament, British Masters, Egyptian Match Play, Transvaal Open, Swallow-Harrogate Tournament
1955 Australian Open, Transvaal Open, South African Open, South Africa Professional
1957 Daks Tournament, Bowmaker Amateur-Professional
1958 Transvaal Open

Gary Player (born November 1, 1935) is a South African professional golfer generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the game’s history.

He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has logged more than 14 million miles in travel, more than any other athlete. Dubbed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness and the International Ambassador of Golf, Player is a renowned golf course architect with over 250 design projects throughout the world. He operates Black Knight International, which includes Gary Player Design, Gary Player Real Estate, and Gary Player Enterprises, and aspects of which include licensing, publishing, videos, apparel and memorabilia. The Gary Player Stud Farm has received worldwide acclaim for breeding top thoroughbred race horses including 1994 English Derby entry Broadway Flyer. He operates The Player Foundation with its primary objective to promote education around the world. In 1983, The Player Foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has educational facilities for over 500 students from kindergarten through grade eight. In July 2007 a media controversy emerged over his statements at the British Open golf tournament about the use of performance enhancing drugs in golf. Subsequently, the PGA Tour introduced a formal policy. In October 2007 further media controversy arose about his involvement in the 2002 design of a golf course in Burma .

Background and family
Gary Player was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the youngest of Harry and Muriel Player’s three children. When he was eight years old his mother died from cancer. Although his father was often away from home working in the gold mines, he did manage to take a loan in order to buy a set of clubs for his son Gary to begin playing golf. The Virginia Park golf course in Johannesburg is where Player first began his love affair with golf. At the age of 14 Player played his first round of golf and parred the first three holes. At age 16 he announced that he would become number one in the world. At age 17 he became a professional golfer.

Player married wife Vivienne on January 19, 1957, four years after turning professional. Together they have six children: Jennifer, Marc, Wayne, Michele, Theresa and Amanda. He is also a grandfather to 20 grandchildren . During the early days of his career Player would travel from tournament to tournament with wife and children in tow.

He is also the brother of world renowned wildlife conservationist Dr. Ian Player who saved the white rhino from extinction.

Regular tour career
Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, ranking third (behind Roberto de Vicenzo and Sam Snead) in total professional wins, with at least a hundred and sixty-six, and tied fourth in major championship victories with nine. Along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus he is sometimes referred to as one of “The Big Three” golfers of his era — from the late 1950s through the early 1970s — when golf boomed in the United States and around the world, greatly encouraged by expanded television coverage. Along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, he is one of only five players to win golf’s “career Grand Slam”. He completed the Grand Slam in 1965 at the age of twenty-nine. Player was the second multi-time majors winner from South Africa, following from Bobby Locke, and succeeded by Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Player played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour from the late 1950s. He led the money list in 1961, and went on to accumulate twenty four career titles. He also played an exceptionally busy schedule all over the world, and he has been called the world’s most travelled athlete, clocking up more than 14 million miles. He has more victories than anyone else in the South African Open (thirteen) and the Australian Open (seven). He held the record for most victories in the World Match Play Championship, with five wins, from 1973 until 1991 when this feat was equalled by Seve Ballesteros, finally losing his share of the record in 2004, when Ernie Els won the event for a sixth time.

He was the only player in the 20th century to win the (British) Open in three different decades. Player last won the U.S. Masters in 1978, when he started seven strokes behind the leaders entering the final round and won by one shot with birdies at seven of the last 10 holes for a back nine 30 and a final round 64. One week later, Player came from seven strokes back in the final round to win the Tournament of Champions. In gusty winds at the 1998 Masters, he became the oldest golfer ever to make to the cut, breaking the 25-year-old record set by Sam Snead.

Being South African, Player never played in the Ryder Cup in which American and European golfers compete against each other. Regarding the event, Player remarked, “The things I have seen in the Ryder Cup have disappointed me. You are hearing about hatred and war.” He was no longer an eligible player when the Presidents Cup was established to give international players the opportunity to compete in a similar event, but he was non-playing captain of the International Team for the Presidents Cup in 2003, which was held on a course he designed, The Links at Fancourt in George, South Africa. After 2003 ended in a tie, he was reappointed as captain for the 2005 Presidents Cup, and his team lost to the Americans 15.5 to 18.5. Both Player and Jack Nicklaus were appointed to captain their respective teams again in 2007 in Canada; the United States won.

In 1966, Gary Player was awarded the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 and “Gary Player — A Global Journey” exhibition launched by the Hall of Fame as of March, 2006.

In 2000, Player was ranked as the third greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.

Major Championships

Wins (9)
Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner(s) Up
1959 The Open Championship 4 shot deficit E (75-71-70-68=284) 2 strokes Fred Bullock, Flory Van Donck
1961 The Masters 3 shot lead -8 (69-68-69-74=280) 1 stroke Charles Coe, Arnold Palmer
1962 PGA Championship 2 shot lead -2 (72-67-69-70=278) 1 stroke Bob Goalby
1965 U.S. Open 2 shot lead +2 (70-70-71-71=282) Playoff 1 Kel Nagle
1968 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot deficit +1 (74-71-71-73=289) 2 strokes Bob Charles, Jack Nicklaus
1972 PGA Championship (2) 1 shot lead +1 (71-71-67-72=281) 2 strokes Tommy Aaron, Jim Jamieson
1974 The Masters (2) 1 shot deficit -10 (71-71-66-70=278) 2 strokes Dave Stockton, Tom Weiskopf
1974 The Open Championship (3) 3 shot lead -2 (69-68-75-70=282) 4 strokes Peter Oosterhuis
1978 The Masters (3) 7 shot deficit -11 (72-72-69-64=277) 1 stroke Rod Funseth, Hubert Green, Tom Watson

1 Defeated Kel Nagle in 18-hole playoff - Player (71), Nagle (74)

PGA Tour wins (24)
1958 (1) Kentucky Derby Open
1959 (1) The Open Championship
1961 (3) Lucky International, Sunshine Open, The Masters
1962 (1) PGA Championship
1963 (1) San Diego Open Invitational
1964 (2) 500 Festival Open Invitation, Pensacola Open
1965 (1) U.S. Open
1968 (1) The Open Championship
1969 (1) Tournament of Champions
1970 (1) Greater Greensboro Open
1971 (2) Greater Jacksonville Open, National Airlines Open Invitational
1972 (2) Greater New Orleans Open, PGA Championship
1973 (1) Southern Open
1974 (3) The Masters, Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, The Open Championship
1978 (3) The Masters, MONY Tournament of Champions, Shell Houston Open
Major championships are shown in bold.

Other regular wins
In addition to his wins on the PGA Tour, Player won more than 100 other tournaments in “regular”, that is non-senior golf.

South Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour)
73 wins between 1955 and 1981 including:

South African Open: 13 times between 1956 and 1983
South African Masters: 10 times between 1959 and 1976
South African PGA Championship: 5 times between 1959 and 1976
PGA Tour of Australasia
18 wins between 1956 and 1981 including:

Australian Open: A record 7 times between 1958 and 1974
Other
At least 20 other wins between 1955 and 1984, including:

World Cup: individual title in 1965 and 1977
World Match Play Championship: 5 times between 1965 and 1974 (played in England, but not an official European Tour event at that time)
World Series of Golf:1965, 1968 and 1972 (U.S. - not a PGA Tour event at that time)
Lancome Trophy: 1975
Player also collected wins in North and West Africa, Canada, Japan and Latin America.

Champions Tour wins (19)
1985 (1) Quadel Seniors Classic
1986 (3) General Foods PGA Seniors’ Championship, United Hospitals Senior Golf Championship, Denver Post Champions of Golf
1987 (3) Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship, U.S. Senior Open, PaineWebber World Seniors Invitational
1988 (5) General Foods PGA Seniors’ Championship, Aetna Challenge, Southwestern Bell Classic, U.S. Senior Open, GTE North Classic
1989 (2) GTE North Classic, RJR Championship
1990 (1) PGA Seniors’ Championship
1991 (1) Royal Caribbean Classic
1993 (1) Bank One Senior Classic
1995 (1) Bank One Classic
1998 (1) Northville Long Island Classic
Senior majors are shown in bold. See “Other senior wins” below for Player’s wins in the Senior British Open.

Other senior wins (13)
1986 Senior Skins Game (South Africa)
1987 Northville Invitational (United States), German PGA Team Championship
1988 Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour), Nissan Senior Skins (South Africa)
1990 Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour)
1991 Nissan Senior Skins (South Africa)
1993 Irish Senior Masters (European Seniors Tour)
1997 Dai-ichi Seimei Cup (Japan), Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour), Shell Wentworth Senior Masters (European Seniors Tour),
2000 Senior Skins Game (U.S. - unofficial event)
2005 Nelson Mandela Invitational (Sunshine Tour - unofficial event)
The Senior British Open is shown in bold as it is generally recognised as a major and it is now an official Champions Tour event and major. However, it was not an official Champions Tour event when Player achieved his wins, and in contrast to early wins in regular British Opens by PGA Tour members, which are now included in their official PGA Tour win tallies, wins in early Senior British Opens by Champions Tour members have not been restrospectively designated as Champions Tour wins by the PGA Tour at this time.

In the bag
Callaway is Gary Player’s preference, and it is all that is in his bag.

Driver: FT-3 Callaway
Fairway Woods: Strong 4, 5 and 9 Callaway Steelhead Woods
Hybrid: Callaway Heavenwood 4H
Irons: 5-PW X-Tour Callaway
Sand wedges: 56 Degree and 64 Degree X-Tour Callaway
Putter: Odyssey Whitehot #1
Ball: Callaway HX Tour
Glove: Callaway
Shoes: Gary Player Collection
Putter Grip: Odyssey
Aparell: Gary Player Collection

Controversy
In 1966, Gary Player was quoted in a book entitled Grand Slam Golf in which he wrote “I must say now, and clearly, that I am of the South Africa of Verwoerd and apartheid…a nation which is the result of an African graft on European stock and which is the product of its instinct and ability to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the aliens. Player has apologised profusely about this statement, saying he was a young man who never proof read the books manuscript prior to going to print and that the quote was never made by him but rather the writer of the book.” It is believed that Player’s attitude towards the apartheid regime is very different today and has so far raised over 100 million dollars through his foundation to support under-privileged education in South Africa during apartheid.[citation needed]

In 2002, Gary Player designed a golf course in Burma, named by the developers, The Pride of Myanmar, currently frequented by tourists as well as generals of the army. There are unsubstantiated accusations that the land for the courses was seized from poor farmers without compensation.

Player has hosted the Nelson Mandela Invitational Golf Tournament since 2000. As a result of the recent political uprisings in Burma, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has withdrawn from the fundraising golf tournament because of Player’s unsubstantiated business links with the country. Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have however accepted Player’s position and statements on Burma. Player, refused to withdraw as he owns the event and issued a statement rebutting these claims via his website www.garyplayer.com. The event was staged as the Gary Player Invitational and raised a record amount of money for various children’s charities.

Miscellaneous
Dubbed the Black Knight (for his preference for black apparel), Mr. Fitness and the International Ambassador of Golf
Player bred the racehorse Broadway Flyer which competed in the 1994 Epsom Derby.
Named Honorary Member of the R&A in 1994.
Received Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from St. Andrews in 1995.
Received Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland in 1997
The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational trophy is named the Gary Player Cup.
Named Honorary Member of Carnoustie in 1999
Received Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Dundee, Scotland in 1999
South African Sportsman of the Century award in 2000
Received the 2003 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monte Carlo.
Awarded the Order of Ikhamanga (in gold) by President Mbeki of South Africa for excellence in golf and contribution to non-racial sport in South Africa.
He was featured on a South African stamp.
Has designed over 250 golf courses around the world.
Coined one of the most quoted aphorisms of post-War sport: “The harder you practice, the luckier you get.”
He currently plays on the U.S. Champions Tour.
He made a cameo appearance in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, “The Smoking Jacket.”
Supports Scottish football team Rangers
Has travelled over 14 million miles by air and is “the world’s most travelled athlete”.
In 2006 received the Payne Stewart Award.
Played in his 50th Masters Tournament at Augusta National in April 2007, tying Arnold Palmer for most Masters appearances
Inducted into the African American Sports Hall of Fame in May 2007, with Lifetime Achievement Award
Has played in a record 46 consecutive British Open Championships, winning 3 times over 3 decades.