Gary Player - The Legend

Gary Player Named Recipient of 2006 Payne Stewart Award

Nov 2, 2006 | Filed Under: General News   

Gary Player was named the recipient of the 2006 Payne Stewart Award on his birthday, November 1st, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta - site of this week’s TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. The award is named in honor of Payne Stewart, an 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR (including three major championships) who died tragically the week of THE TOUR Championship in 1999.  Presented by Southern Company, the Payne Stewart award is given to a player sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct.

“Gary Player represents everything this award stands for,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “The PGA TOUR’s core values of honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect for the game, growing the game, making a positive contribution to charity and helping each other achieve our highest potential, are all values that could certainly be used to describe Gary Player.

“The most traveled athlete in all of sports, Gary’s love of the game and thirst for life spread to everyone around him.”

While Player’s accomplishments on the course are more than impressive, his accomplishments off the course are equally notable. Perhaps one of the most significant is The Player Foundation which built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa and has educational facilities for more than 500 students from kindergarten through the seventh grade. The foundation also has supports underprivileged education projects in America, Europe and Asia.

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