ABOUT GARY PLAYER

Gary Player was born on 1 November 1935 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and from an early age showed a keen talent for the game of golf. In 1953, Gary Player turned professional, and has over the years obtained 163 Championship wins throughout his career, with worldwide career earnings totaling up to a massive 12 million dollars.

Dubbed the "Black Knight" because of his courageous style of play which is backed by a competitive yet courteous demeanour, Gary Player has become one of the world's greatest golfers to date. Furthermore, with the following life mottos, it is no wonder why Gary Player has made such a success of his golfing career, making him one golfer who will go down in history:

  1. Change is the price of survival.
  2. Everything in business is negotiable except quality.
  3. A promise made is a debt incurred.
  4. For all we take in life we must pay.
  5. Persistence and common sense are more important than intelligence.
  6. The fox fears not the man who boasts by night but the man who rises early in the morning.
  7. Accept the advice of the man who loves you, though you like it not at present.
  8. Trust instinct to the end, though you cannot render any reason.
  9. The heights of a great man rendered and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but that while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night.
  10. There is no substitute for personal contact.

The list of Gary Player's achievements are limitless and, besides winning 9 Major Championships and 9 Senior Major Championships, these include the following:

  • Winner of Golf's Grand Slam (one of five golfer's ever to achieve this)
  • Winner of nine major championships (third on all-time list)
  • Only winner of Grand Slam on Regular Tour and Champions Tour
  • Won 163 professional tournaments worldwide over five decades
  • Only player to win British Open in three different decades
  • The world's most traveled athlete with over 13 million air miles
  • One of two golfers ever to be bestowed with Honorary Doctorate of Law from St. Andrews University
  • Won his native country's South African Open a record thirteen times
  • Winner of seven Australian Opens ( the most ever)
  • Five time winner of World Match Play Championship ( the most ever)
  • Shot 59, lowest score ever in professional golf, in the 1974 Brazilian Open
  • Won two individual World Cup titles for South Africa
  • Three time winner of World Series of Golf
  • Placed in top ten in 33 majors, including 17 top three finishes
  • Victories in 27 consecutive years, ten years more than the second best
  • Honorary member of Royal and Ancient (one of only ten golfers)
  • 18 holes-in-ones during official tournaments
  • South African sportsman of the country in 2000
  • One of original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974
  • Winner of nine majors on Senior PGA Tour
  • Oldest player to make the cut at the Open Championships (aged 62 in 1998)
  • Holds the records for the most consecutive cuts made at the Masters with 23
  • Ranked by Golf Digests, Golf and Asian Golf magazines in top ten all time greatest golfers ever
  • Winner of the 2003 Laurens Lifetime Achievement Award

A list of sponsors backing Gary Player up include the likes of the following prestigious companies:

  • SAP
  • Callaway Golf
  • Citigroup Private Bank
  • Rolex
  • Mastercard
  • Verizon Business
  • Boschendal

Gary Player now lives in Palm Beach Florida and is currently ranked as being the most successful international golfer of all-time in the world. Besides being a world-acclaimed golfer, Gary Player has achieved success in various other arenas in life such as establishing Black Knight International, a company which includes cooperatives Gary Player Equipment, Gary Player Academy, Gary Player Stud Farm, and Gary Player Enterprises, to name but a few. He is furthermore a renowned golf course architect with over 200 design projects throughout the world.

With this said, not only is Gary Player a successful golfer, but has established himself as a successful all-rounder, and is not afraid to attempt anything in life. He truly is a man of great talent.