1974 Masters

The Black Knight placed in the top 10 at The Masters nine times from 1962-1973. 1974 saw the 38-year-old Player in the prime of his career.  He won the second of his three Masters titles defeating runners-up Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf by two strokes. This win jump started Player’s run to 10 professional wins in what was the best year of his career. It was the seventh of his Major titles.

1974 British Open

The 1974 Open Championship was played at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Oosterhuis. He became the first, and remains the only player to win The Open in three different decades. It was the eighth of his Major titles and second of the year; he won the Masters in April. In the other two majors in 1974, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, Player had top 10 finishes.

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!