THE GOLFER
Gary Player is one of the century’s greatest golfers and one of the original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He is one of only five golfers to ever win the Grand Slam, doing so at the age of 29—and, he is the only golfer to ever win the Grand Slam on both the PGA Tour and the Senior or Champions Tour. He is also the only twentieth century golfer to win the British Open in three different decades. Over the course of his career, Player has won 165 worldwide tournaments, including nine Majors on the Regular PGA Tour and another nine on the Champions Tour. He is a three-time President’s Cup Captain and has been ranked by Golf Digest, Golf and Asian Golf magazines as one of the top five all-time greatest golfers.
An avid physical fitness practitioner, Player embraces a healthy lifestyle and was the first professional golfer to develop a weight and resistance regime to strengthen his game and lessen the possibility of repetitive motion injuries. He is widely recognized as the “father of golf fitness.”
THE MAN
Born in Johannesburg South Africa, Player has circled the globe in pursuit of golfing victories and after journeying over 15 million miles, or 25 million kilometers, he has been dubbed The World’s Most Traveled Athlete™. When not jetting to or from tournaments, Player and his wife Vivienne divide their time between a home on Jupiter Island in Hobe Sound, Florida and his farm in Colesberg, South Africa. They have six children and twenty-one grandchildren. Their eldest son, Marc Player, is CEO of Black Knight International, the parent company for Black Knight Enterprises, Gary Player Design and Player Real Estate. Although acclaimed for his numerous golfing achievements, Gary Player is also a world class golf course designer, astute businessman, humanitarian, thoroughbred horse breeder, and fitness expert.
HIS CAREER
Player’s golfing career began when he turned professional in 1953 and won his first event in Cairo, Egypt. He joined the PGA Tour in 1957; won his first Major at The British Open in 1959, then in 1961 became the leading money winner on the PGA Tour. During the first three decades he won a total of nine Majors, with three British Open titles, three Masters Tournaments, two PGA Championships and the US Open. In the years between 1986 and 1997, Player continued his winning streak with top honors in nine of the Senior Majors, including three PGA Championships, two US Opens, three British Opens and the Senior Players Championship. Player’s worldwide career earnings exceed fifteen million dollars.
MAJOR TOUR VICTORIES
Player’s career highlights begin with his 1959 British Open win at Muirfield; the first Open Championship to be telecast live. Although battling the typically harsh Scotland weather, he confidentially announced “Today you are going to see a small miracle. I am going to win.” And win he did—to become the youngest Open Championship winner in history, a distinction that would stand for the next twenty years. At the 1961 Masters he went to the final hole one stroke behind Arnold Palmer—both players hit into the greenside bunker; Palmer double-bogied and Player held par for the win. His 1962 PGA Championship was the third leg of the career Grand Slam that he completed in 1965 with a win at the US Open. At that time he was just 29 years old.
In 1968 Player again won the British Open, this time at Carnoustie. Paired with Jack Nicklaus, Player hit a three wood into a stiff wind, flew twin bunkers called the Spectacles and landed his ball nine inches from the hole for an eagle and the tournament win. Four years later at the 1972 PGA Championship, Player found himself in trouble on the 16th hole when he sliced his drive and landed it behind a weeping willow. From where he was, Player had to stand on a spectator’s chair to see the green. Then using a nine iron, he executed what has since been called “one of the most spectacular recovery shots in championship history.” Rounding a crowded stand of trees and clearing the lake in front of the green, he landed his ball four feet from the cup and garnered another tournament win.
Playing what he then called, “the best golf of my life,” Player bypassed powerhouses Palmer and Nicklaus to win the 1974 Masters with a comfortable two stroke lead; then at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, he again took the British Open title.
In the 1978 Masters, Player entered the final round seven strokes behind the leaders—with birdies on seven of the last ten holes he brought in a back nine of 30 for a final round of 64, winning the tournament by a single stroke. One week later he came from seven strokes back to take the Tournament of Champions; then the following week he pulled off a third tour de force to win the Shell Houston Open and become the last player to win three consecutive PGA Tournaments in a row.
CHAMPIONS TOUR VICTORIES
In his 1985 Champions Tour debut Player won the Quadel Senior Classic and for the next four years placed in the Tour’s top ten money winners. During his first seven years on the Champions Tour, Player had one or more victories every year. In 1988 he defeated Bob Charles in a playoff at Medinah, took home the second of two consecutive US Senior Open titles, and finished the year with five wins. But, his biggest paycheck came the following year when he won the Champions Tour RJR Tournament. In 1990 he defeated Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez, and brought in his third Senior PGA Championship with a comfortable two stroke lead. Five years later, Gary Player earned his 18th official Champions Tour victory—it was just weeks before his 60th birthday.
Two years later he again won back-to-back titles at the 1997 Senior British Open and Shell Wentworth Masters. The following year he became the second oldest winner on the Champions Tour—shooting three consecutive rounds of 68 to take the 1998 Northville Long Island Classic. Player then staged the biggest comeback in the history of the Champions Skins Game in January of 2000—making a birdie on the first playoff hole, he won four skins, the match and a $220,000 jackpot. That same year he became the oldest golfer to make The Masters cut and in doing so broke Sam Snead’s 25 year record.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
In addition to his impressive record of tournament wins, Gary Player has received numerous awards in recognition of his sportsmanship and humanitarian deeds. Player’s career accomplishments were recognized by the PGA Tour in 2012 when he became the first international recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006 he received the PGA Tour Payne Stewart Award for philanthropic endeavors and the exemplary manner in which he conducts himself both on and off the course, and he was also awarded the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. President Mbeki of South Africa presented Player with the Order of Ikhamanga (in gold for exceptional achievement) in December 2003 acknowledging his excellence in golf and contribution to non-racial sport in South Africa.
Currently serving as the Global Ambassador to the World Golf Hall of Fame, Player is one of only ten golfers to be named Honorary Member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. He also holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from St. Andrews University along with Honorary Doctorates from the University of Ulster in Ireland and the University of Dundee in Scotland.
In 2009 Player was given the first Asia Pacific Golf Humanitarian Award honoring his decades of service in bringing education to underprivileged children around the globe. Although too numerous to list, Player’s other awards include: The South African Sportsman of the Century Award, The Canada Lifetime Achievement Award, and the inaugural Breeders’ Cup and Racing Excellence Award for service to the thoroughbred race horse industry.
GARY PLAYER STUD
Through a passion for horses that rivals his love for the game of golf, Gary Player has made a clear and definite contribution to the quality of the South African stud book. The Gary Player Stud, located in the Great Karoo of South Africa, is presently home to some of South Africa's finest thoroughbreds and is consistently amongst the leading breeders on the National Breeders List.
The Stud has been the stomping ground of world record equine athletes since 1883. The Ellis family bred numerous champions and stud book dynasties at Rietfontein including Prestisimo, Hey Presto, Magic Charm, Magic Link, Mowgli, Lavonia, Pussmoth, Preston Pam, Pipes of Pam, etc. Player acquired the farm in 1974, and it is his personal involvement with the stud and winning philosophy has set the standard for the team of dedicated professional managers and the stock that they raise.
Gary Player has an unwavering commitment to quality and perfection which has resulted in the production of a very high percentage of stakes winners. The original small band of broodmares produced an average 12% stakes winners per crop including Pinehurst, World Over, Foreign Source, Kadarko, Foolish Pride, My Advantage, Derby Way, Creator, Superwood, Lady Windermere, Supper Club, Sangria Girl, Madrisa, Chave De Oura and others for clients like Nino's Mistral. From only three mares at stud in America, Gary has bred three stakes winners including Gr1 Broadway Flyer and French Gr3 Cachet Noir. Additionally, Player is the first South African breeder ever to produce an international Group 1 winner in the USA out of a South African mare - Serena.
Player and the Gary Player Stud team continue to position themselves atop the ranks, with incredible success at recent sales. Even with his continued success, Player’s long-term commitment still captures excitement as every new stakes winner appears.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
In 2013 Gary Player celebrated his 60th anniversary as a professional golfer—but that’s only part of who he really is. He is a man of principle, integrity, honor and impeccable work ethic. He is first and foremost a father, husband and humanitarian. He is the inspiration behind The Player Foundation, a charitable organization that participates in special events for funding education to underprivileged children. Since its establishment in 1983, the foundation has provided over $50 million dollars to build and operate facilities such as the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also a thoroughbred race horse breeder and owner of the stud farm that produced 1994 English Derby winner Broadway Flyer.
Gary Player, often referred to as the Black Knight, is a renaissance man, with varied interests and endless abilities. One of his great loves is the game of golf, which is why he understands the nuances of course design—it’s also why the 325 courses he has engineered are among the most popular in the world. With over fifty years as a professional golfer and forty years in course design, Player now looks to the future with the various entities managed through Black Knight International—The Player Foundation; Gary Player Design and, Player Real Estate…a company with visions of the world’s most perfect golf resort…a luxury resort designed with an eye for perfection… a resort conceived by the perfectionist himself… Gary Player.
For further information on The Player Foundation, Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate or Black Knight International, visit www.garyplayer.com.
