Gary Player is not only one of the greatest professional golfers of all-time, but the South African is a renowned course architect. Many of the courses Player helped design were inspired by his long playing career and they have been played by millions of golfers around the world.
Player turned professional in 1953 at the young age of 17. His longevity in the sport has helped make him one of the most successful golfers of all-time. Four years after turning professional, Player joined the PGA Tour.
In 1958, he won his first PGA Tour event, the Kentucky Derby Open. It was the first of 24 PGA Tour wins during his illustrious career. Just over a year later, Player won his first major tournament, the 1959 Open Championship. Player had regular success at the Open Championship, winning it three times during his career. Each win came in a different decade as Player secured Open Championship wins across a 15-year period.
The Masters was another tournament Player had large amounts of success in. He won the tournament three times in a 17-year timespan. Player achieve victories in the US Open and PGA Championship tournaments as well, making him one of a select few to win golf’s Grand Slam. Player moved on to the Senior PGA Tour in the 1980s. He won 19 senior level tournaments and six of those tournaments were Senior Tour Majors.
The South African’s successfully course architecture career has seen him create over 300 golf courses. Player’s courses can be found on five continents and in over 35 countries. Despite being born in 1935, Player’s golf course design company continues to design courses every year. The Nedbank Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club at the Sun City Resort in South Africa is hosted by the great each year. The tournament has given out some of the highest cash prizes on the European (DP World) Tour.
Player is one of the most famous sports celebrities in South Africa. In 2000, he was voted the country’s “Sports Man of the Century”.
Gary Player’s Major Wins
Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
---|---|---|---|---|
1959 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
1961 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
1962 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ |
1965 | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ |
1968 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
1972 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ |
1974 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
1978 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
Masters Wins: 3
For someone like Gary Player, winning a tournament like the Masters will have been something he could only have dreamed of as a young golfer growing up in South Africa. Critics of the exclusive nature of a golf course like Augusta National will have felt that Player fitted in well there, given the fact that he was a supporter of apartheid in the early part of his career. His first experience of the Masters came in 1957 when he was tied-24th, taking part in it virtually every year between then and 2009. As well as winning it three times, Player also came third once, second once and tied for second on one other occasion.
1961 – First Overseas Masters Champions
Heavy rain and flooding had an impact on the Masters in 1961, with Sunday’s final round being halted by 4pm and all scores erased, even though some players had actually finished their rounds. The entire round was replayed on the Monday, adding some tension to proceedings. Player shot a 69 on day one and a 68 on day two, with an other 69 coming on the Saturday. In the final round that was moved to Monday, Player thought he’d lost the tournament after shooting a four over par 40 on the back nine. Arnold Palmer needed a par on the 18th to win it, but overhit a bunker shot and ended up scoring a double-bogey, handing Player his first green jacket.
1974 – Two Shot Win Ahead of Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf
It took more than decade for Gary Player to don his second green jacket, having missed the 1973 Masters due to needing surgery on his leg and his abdomen. That was the only Masters that he missed in 53 years of being invited to play. Having shot 71 for two days running at the start of the Tournament, Player wasn’t even in the top ten heading into into Saturday’s play. A 66 soon changed things, however, and put him just one behind the leader. He carded a 70 on the final day, giving him 278 in total, which was -10. It put him two shots clear of Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf, handing him the seventh Major of his career.
1978 – Seven Shot Final Round Deficit Overturned
Player’s 1978 win at Augusta might well be considered his most impressive win at any of the Majors. Aged 42, the South African was tied-eighth at the end of the first round, having shot a level par 72. That put him four shots off the lead, which he reduced to three shots at the end of day two. Having shot two pars in a row, he improved on day three by shooting 69 but somehow ended up even further off Hubert Green, who led him by seven shots. Player needed to produce something special, which a course record-equalling 64 certainly was. It saw him overtake Green, Tom Watson and Rod Funseth who tied for second, winning at -11.
PGA Championship Wins: 2
The PGA Championship was a tournament that Player enjoyed playing in, but that didn’t have quite the same draw for him as the likes of the Masters. The fact that he won it at just the second time of asking might well have lulled him into a false sense of security, or the fact that activists campaigned against his appearing in the competition because of his stance on apartheid may have given him a sour taste. Whatever the logic, the first time he played in it was 1961 when he finished tied-29th. The protest against him occurred in 1969, perhaps doing enough to put him off in a year when he ended up finishing second.
1962 – Single Stroke Win at Aronimink
Played at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, the 1962 PGA Championship came just a week after the Open Championship had been played on the Scottish course of Royal Troon. Having missed the cut in Scotland, Player may have felt more at home in the States given that the PGA of America had refused to drop its ‘caucasian only’ clause. He shot a 72 on day one and a 67 on day two, which was enough to put him tied-second heading into the weekend. A 69 saw him on -2, two shots clear of the chasing pack, whilst a par 70 on the Sunday saw him win the PGA Championship for the first time, ending up a shot clear of Bob Goalby in second.
1972 – Player Breaks Four-Year Major Duck
Winning the same tournament exactly ten years apart is impressive in some ways and is exactly what Player did with the PGA Championship. The 1972 version of the tournament was played at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, with Player not all that fancied considering he hadn’t won a Major in more than four years. The fact that he didn’t trouble the top ten after shooting one over par 71 on day one and the same on day two simply reinforced that. A 67 on the Saturday saw him shift into the lead, however, and not even a 72 on the Sunday could stop him, winning the competition by two strokes with a one over par 281.
US Open Wins: 1
Gary Player’s experience of the US Open was a pleasant one during the first few years that he took part in it, finishing second on his debut in the famous competition. That was in 1958 and he made the cut every year between then and 1980, which was the first time he missed out. That would be an impressive record on its own, but when you add in that he also had eight top ten finishes during that period and won the thing outright in 1965, it makes what he achieved all the more noteworthy. He didn’t take part between 1985 and 1987, missing two cuts in succession following that and choosing to bow out of the tournament from then on.
1965 – Grand Slam Completed at Bellerive Country Club
The 1965 iteration of the US Open took place at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri, with Player chasing the career Grand Slam as a 29-year-old. The first US Open broadcast in colour, player sat tied-fourth at the end of day one having shot a level par 70, moving into the lead on day two after shooting the same score. On the Saturday he shot one over par but kept the lead, only for Ken Nagle to draw level with him at +2 at the end of Sunday’s play. That resulted in an 18-hole play-off, which Player won at one-over compared to Nagle’s +4. It was the first time a foreign-born player had won the US Open since 1927 when Scottish born Tommy Armour won it.
Open Championship Wins: 3
The Open Championship was a tournament that Player took to heart, being the first one that he entered as well as there first one that he won. He came fourth in his debut in the competition in 1956, going on to play in it every year between then and his last appearance in 2001. The fact that he won it three times in that period is obviously impressive, whilst the knowledge that only missed the Cut or withdrew four times between his first year and 1980 speaks volumes for his ability. Although he began missing the cut regularly in 1980, he still made it six times, finishing tied-68th in 1995, the last time he made it to the weekend.
1959 – Final Round 68 Secures First Major
Having finished fourth in 1956, Player was tied-27th the year after and seventh in 1958, no doubt giving himself the confidence to head to Muirfield Golf Links in 1959 with the belief that he could win it. Rounds of 75 and 71 meant that he didn’t trouble the top ten on either of the first two days, but he bounced back with a 70 on the Friday morning to put him at level par for the week. That was four shots off the lead, with a 68 from player being matched by a 74 from Fred Bullock and a 76 from Sam King to allow him to leapfrog the joint leaders. No-one could do any better than Player, so he won by two shots, having carded a 284 for the week.
1968 – Famous Eagle on the 14th Seals Second Claret Jug
Nine years later and Player was back in Scotland, this time at Carnoustie Golf Links to take on the field in the Open Championship. With the PGA Championship taking place the week after and the Greater Milwaukee Open offering five times the prize money, the Open didn’t have quite the appeal that it would in future years. Not that Player cared, shooting 74 on day one and 71 on day to to put him one over, level with Jack Nicklaus and Paddy Skerritt, heading into the third round. Another 71 left him Even, whilst a 73 on the final day was enough to see him lift the Claret jug for the second time in his career, two shots better than Bob Charles and Nicklaus.
1974 – Four Stroke Victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes
It took six more years for Player to win the Open Championship one more time, this one being his only win outside of Scotland. Played at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, it ended up being his penultimate Major. Having previously been allowed to use the smaller ‘British ball’, players were forced to use the larger ‘American ball’ for the competition. Player was tied for the lead after day one, having shot a 69, then took the lead in his own right after a 68 on the Thursday. Friday saw him shoot a 75 but remain three shots clear of the chasing pack, then a final round 70 allowed him to win his third Claret Jug, being the only player to finish under par.