Gary Player - The Legend

Gary Player Still Speaks What’s On His Mind

Apr 21, 2011 | Filed Under: General News   

At 75, Gary Player looks as fit as ever, still at the playing weight that won nine majors and the career grand slam. He may head for the shade after a half-hour spent swinging a club in a hot sand trap, but his mind races on anyway.

He has never been shy about taking a stand, and whether he’s talking about the growth of international golf, the state of youth in America or Tiger Woods’ chances of breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of major championships, Player still has plenty to say.

Of course, it’s a good time to be the patriarch of South African golf. Player defers to Bobby Locke, the first South African to make a splash on the U.S. golf scene, on that score, but no one has been any bigger than Player. Not Ernie Els, not Retief Goosen and not the youngsters who now hold two of golf’s four major titles - not yet, at least.

Charl Schwartzel won at the Masters on the same day, April 10, that Player won the first of his three Masters titles. That followed Louis Oosthuizen’s win at the British Open, a tournament Player also won three times. Player said the success is less about South African golf than it is about an international challenge to traditional American golf supremacy.

“The more international the game is, they want to put them up against Americans,” Player said. “The more that happens, everybody benefits. And the public likes it. It’s so healthy for golf. America wants to see Americans beat the best. They don’t want to see Americans beat Americans.”

The flipside, in Player’s mind, is the “sense of entitlement” holding back America’s youth, an observation gleaned from his grandchildren, many of whom were born in the United States.

He’d like to see improvements in education including physical education, no surprise from a man who was a fitness buff before that was even a phrase. He’d like to see a stronger work ethic. And he’d like to see all of that reflected in sports .

“The international players are better now. They’ve shown it,” Player said. “They’ve won four of the past five Ryder Cups. In tennis, all the world champions are (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal and (Novak) Djokovic. You’ve got the best facilities in the world, man. In every single sport, you should be the world champions.”

The world’s best golfer remains an American, even if Woods hasn’t lived up to his own standards lately. Player still thinks Woods can win the five majors he needs to break Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors, despite the recent turmoil in Woods’ personal life

“Yes, he can. Of course he can. Whether he’ll do it or not, only God knows,” Player said. “The man is unbelievably talented. He was on his way to being the best player the world had ever seen until he had these unfortunate problems. I think he can overcome them. Nobody really knows. He’s capable of doing it. I think this is a very important year. If he doesn’t win a major championship this year, it’s going to be very difficult.”

Player was in Raleigh representing one of his sponsors at a tournament to raise money for Belarusians Outreach, a charity that helps victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Belarus, where winds carried radioactive fallout across the border from Ukraine.

Dressed in light colors instead of his usual black, Player gave his pre-tournament clinic from inside a bunker on the practice range. He reminded his students that he had given Elvis Presley his first golf lesson.

That opened a few mouths. Player can still do that without too much trouble.

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