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A
Player for the Ages |
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By
Carrie Jean Duncan
Communications Intern
Gary Player has been deemed the greatest international golfer
of all time, but he also holds another title, the most traveled.
Player estimates he has spent more than three years of his life
in airplanes and traveled about 12 million miles.
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Gary
Player |
Born
on November 1, 1935, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Gary was
the third of three children. His father, Harry, was a captain
in a gold mine who spent his days working 12,000 feet underground.
His mother, Muriel, was a well-educated woman who tragically
died of cancer when Gary was eight.
Player discovered the game of golf at the age of 14. He turned
professional in 1953 at the age of 18 and experienced several
initial victories in Africa, Europe and Australia. By age 21,
he had 10 victories under his belt and after his 1956 win at
the South African Open, his father got serious about his son’s
talent for the game and wrote a letter to Bobby Jones and Clifford
Roberts, the founders of The Masters. In the letter, he explained
the family’s financial woes and his desire to send Gary
to the United States to compete in the Masters tournament.
“But if you could extend him an invitation to the Masters,
I will pass the hat here in Johannesburg and obtain the necessary
funds,” Harry player wrote.
Jones responded with three words: “Pass the hat.”
With that, Player came to America. His intensity for the game
grew when he saw the level of talent of the players in America.
The following year, he won the Kentucky Derby Open and then
went on to finish second at the U.S. Open. The real reward at
the U.S. Open came when his idol, Ben Hogan, gave him a stare
and said, “Son, you’re going to be a great player.”
Player’s outlook on golf and life in general parallels
that of Ben Hogan’s. He practiced religiously and followed
a strict high-fiber diet, a diet 30 years ahead of its time.
His preparedness paid off. In every year from 1955 to 1982,
Player won at least one formal international tournament, a 27-year
streak that is 10 years longer than anyone else has ever achieved.
He won the World Match Play title five times, the Australian
Open seven times and the South African Open 13 times.
The true testament for Player’s sheer will and determination
came at the 1978 Masters. Having been called a “fading
star” the week before the Masters began, Player looked
like an unlikely contender, even though he had claimed the title
twice before. Player had not won a tournament in the U.S. for
four years, the last at the 1974 Masters.
“Everything Gary’s ever done in golf probably seemed
impossible to most people,” said fellow golfer Lee Trevino.
“But the man’s got more belief in himself than anyone
I’ve ever seen.”
So there he was, five strokes behind on Sunday with Augusta’s
famed back-nine staring him in the face. Unexpectedly, Player
carded six birdies on the closing nine, including two 15-footers
at the 16th and 18th to match the course record with a 64. Player
then spent the next hour watching the leaders falter.
His star began to shine again; he had done the unthinkable.
“That Masters is my crowning achievement,” Player
said. “I could have shot 27! I was absolutely possessed!
To beat those young players on that course, to convert every
opportunity into victory, that was the finest moment of my career.” |
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