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Gary Player

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Gary Player on the cover of a 1999 golf instruction video.
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Gary Player on the cover of a 1999 golf instruction video.

Gary Player (born November 1, 1935) is a South African professional golfer generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the game's history. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Contents

Regular tour career

Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, ranking first in total professional wins, with at least a hundred and sixty-six, and tied fourth in major championship victories with nine. Along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus he is sometimes referred to as one of the "Big Three" golfers of his era; the era in question being one when golf boomed in the United States and around the world, much encouraged by television coverage. He is one of only five players to win golf’s "career Grand Slam" alongside Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, which he completed in 1965 at the age of twenty-nine. He was the second multi-time major winner from South Africa, following on from Bobby Locke, and succeeded by Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Player played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour from the late 1950s. He won the money list in 1961, and went on to accumulate twenty four career titles. He also played an exceptionally busy schedule all over the world, and he has been called the world's most travelled athlete, clocking up more than 14 million miles. He has more victories than anyone else in the South African Open (thirteen) and the Australian Open (seven). He held the record for most victories in the World Match Play Championship, with five wins, from 1973 until 1991 when this feat was equalled by Seve Ballesteros, finally losing his share of the record in 2004, when Ernie Els won the event for a sixth time.

He was the only player in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades. Last won Masters in 1978, when he started seven strokes behind the leaders entering the final round and won by one shot with birdies at seven of the last 10 holes for a back nine 30 and a final round 64. One week later, Player came from seven strokes back in the final round to win the Tournament of Champions. In gusty winds at the 1998 Masters, he became the oldest golfer ever to make to the cut, breaking the 25-year-old record set by Sam Snead.

Being South African, Player never played in the Ryder Cup in which American and European golfers compete against each other, and he was no longer an eligible player when the Presidents Cup was established to give international players the opportunity to compete in a similar event. However, he was non-playing captain of the International Team for the Presidents Cup in 2003, which was held on a course he designed, The Links at Fancourt in George, South Africa. After 2003 ended in a tie, he was reappointed as captain for the 2005 Presidents Cup, and his team lost to the Americans 15.5 to 18.5.

In 1966, Gary Player was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 and "Gary Player - A Global Journey" exhibition launched by the Hall of Fame as of March, 2006.

Championships Won

Player has won over 160 professional events worldwide, including:

PGA Tour wins

24 wins: Major championships are shown in bold.

Other regular wins

In addition to his wins on the PGA Tour, Player won more than 100 other tournaments in "regular", that is non-senior golf.

South Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour)
73 wins between 1955 and 1981 including:

PGA Tour of Australasia
18 wins between 1956 and 1981 including: Other
At least 20 other wins between 1955 and 1984, including: Player also collected wins in North and West Africa, Canada, Japan and Latin America.

Champions Tour wins

Senior majors are shown in bold. See "Other senior wins" below for Player's wins in the Senior British Open.

Other senior wins

The Senior British Open is shown in bold as it is generally recognised as a major and it is now an official Champions Tour event and major. However it was not an official Champions Tour event when Player achieved his wins, and in contrast to early wins in regular British Opens by PGA Tour members, which are now included in their official PGA Tour win tallies, wins in early Senior British Opens by Champions Tour members have not been restrospectively designated as Champions Tour wins by the PGA Tour at this time.

Results in major championships

Tournament 1956 1957 1958 1959
The Masters DNP T24 CUT T8
U.S. Open DNP DNP 2 T15
The Open Championship 4 T24 7 1
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP

Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters T6 1 2 5 T5 T2 T28 T6 T7 T33
U.S. Open T19 T9 T6 T8 T23 1 T15 T12 T16 T48
The Open Championship 7 WD CUT T7 T8 WD T4 T3 1 T23
PGA Championship DNP 1 T8 T13 T33 T3 DNP DNP 2 DNP

Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters 3 T6 T10 DNP 1 T30 T28 T19 1 T17
U.S. Open T44 T27 T15 12 T8 T43 T23 T10 T6 T2
The Open Championship CUT 7 6 T14 1 T32 T28 T22 T34 T19
PGA Championship T12 T4 1 T51 7 T33 T13 T31 T26 T23

Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters T6 T15 T15 CUT T21 T36 CUT T35 CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT T26 CUT T20 T43 DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT T42 CUT CUT CUT T35 T66 T61 CUT
PGA Championship T26 T49 CUT T42 T2 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters T24 CUT CUT 60 CUT CUT CUT CUT 46 CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T57 CUT CUT CUT T68 CUT CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
The Masters CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

Miscellanea

See also

External links

 

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