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.