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.

1978 Masters

The 1978 Masters Tournament saw 42-year-old Gary Player create one of golf’s most memorable comebacks. He overcame a seven-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth Major Championship. Player shot a record-tying 64 (−8) in the final round to win by one stroke over runners-up Rod Funseth, Tom Watson and 54-hole leader Hubert Green. He had to wait nearly one hour for the final group to finish.

1988 Senior PGA Championship

By the start of the 1988 season Gary Player had been playing on the senior circuit for two full seasons and had eight victories. Significantly, three of those victories were Majors, which was a great thrill for him.

PGA Senior Championship was once again played Palm Beach Gardens in Florida at PGA National’s Champions Course. While the early going belonged to New Zealand lefthander Bob Charles, his relatively quiet 2nd round allowed others in the field to come within reach, including Arnold Palmer in a group of three just three shots behind.

At the end of a very windy 3rd round, Chi Chi Rodriguez and al Geiberger had the lead at 213 and, following a 73 and 72, Gary Player had come within one shot of the leaders. In the final round, he hit one of his best four-irons ever to just inches short of the cup on the 8th, and with the leaders struggling at the 8th and 9th, I never trailed after that. Birdies at the 14th and 16th followed and I ended up winning my second PGA Senior Championship by three shots.

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!

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!