1965 U.S. Open

The 1965 U.S. Open was the 65th U.S. Open, held at Bellerive Country Club. Gary Player  defeated Kel Nagle of Australia in an 18-hole playoff to win his only U.S. Open title and complete the career Grand Slam joining Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan. This win launched him into golf immortality as he was and remains the only foreign-born winner to win all four Majors at age 29. It was the fourth of his Major titles.

1968 British Open

After four top five finishes in Majors in 1966 and 1967, Gary Player won the second of his three Open titles nearly a decade after his first Major Championship. He finished two strokes ahead of runners-up Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus at Carnoustie Golf Links. It was the fifth of Player’s nine major titles.

1972 PGA Championship

The Black Knight won his second PGA Championship two strokes ahead of runners-up Tommy Aaron and Jim Jamieson. On hole 16, Player faced a near impossible lie when his drive landed in front on a giant willow tree. With little room to spare, he stuck his approach shot just feet from the hole.  It was the sixth of Player’s Major titles.

1988 US Senior Open

As good a year as Player had on the Champions Tour in 1987, 1988 was quite unbelievable. In the 12 starts leading up to the US Senior Open, he had won three times and had not been out of the top 10.
In 1988 Medinah was a typically tough USGA layout, with narrow fairways and penal rough. The USGA certainly didn’t go easy on the seniors, Player recalls. So it wasn’t surprising when he opened with a 74, his worse round of the year – and to make matters worse, this put him five shots behind first-round leaders Billy Casper and Walt Zembriski. Luckily there was plenty of golf to be played.

Billy Casper extended his lead to four shots after the second round, but after Player’s third-round 71 they were neck-and-neck going into the last. It was New Zealand’s Bob Charles who made the early charge in the final round and he was three ahead by the 14th, playing superb golf, but three bogeys brought Player and Charles level. Both shot par on the 18th and finished with a tie after 72 holes. Player was able to clinch victory after an 18-hole play-off, and better still, back-to-back US Senior Opens… What a proud moment!

1990 Senior British Open

Player came from behind in his customary dramatic fashion to overcome lashing rain and heavy winds at Turnberry to win his second British Senior Open. This performance went down in history as the biggest come-from-behind victory in Senior British Open Championship history at Turnberry. Despite posting a 5-over 75 on the final day, Player rallied from five strokes down to edge Deane Beman and Brian Waites by a stroke.

1990 Senior PGA Championship

With one of the strongest fields ever assembled for the oldest professional senior event in golf, Gary Player coasted to his third PGA Seniors’ Championship with a 7-under-par 281. Player finished two strokes ahead of runner-up Chi Chi Rodriguez and four strokes ahead of Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino to earn the winner’s check of $75,000. Player’s four rounds were identical to those posted by 1989 PGA Seniors’ Champion Larry Mowry.

1997 Senior British Open

In the late 1990s much had changed in the world including Gary Player’s home country of South Africa, which had its first democratically elected government and was thriving under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. Player was just a couple of months shy of his 62nd birthday, but feeling as fit and strong as a man decades younger.

The 1997 Senior British Open was played in Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush, which was once a venue for The Open (back in 1951 when Max Faulkner won). In typically windy and cold Irish summer weather, he opened with a very solid 68, but found himself two shots behind fellow countryman John Bland who shot an excellent 66. The tournament turned into a head-to-head duel between the two of them, with one outscoring the other by two shots each day. Englishman Noel Ratcliffe held the halfway lead after a spectacular 65 in the second round, but he faded with a disappointing 75 in the third.

This left Bland and Player battling it out to the finish, finishing tied on 10-under par 278 after 72 holes of regulation play. They were then faced with a sudden-death playoff, which Player won with a birdie on the 18th, the second playoff hole.
This marked his 9th senior Major Championship, equaling his total on the Regular Tour!