Gary Jim Player, was born on November 1, 1935, in Johannesburg, South Africa to Harry and Muriel Player. In 1943, when Gary was eight years old, Muriel succumbed to cancer, leaving her husband, Harry to raise Gary and his two older siblings. Harry, was earning a modest income working in the gold mines, and was often in locations away from his children. However, upon discovering that Gary at 14 years of age had a deep interest in golf, he secured a loan to buy him a set of clubs.
It was at the Virginia Park golf course in Johannesburg where Player played his first round of golf. After parring the first three holes, he was hooked. By age 16 he had resolved to become the best golfer in the world, and a year later, at age 16, he announced that he would become number one in the world. The next year, he became a professional golfer and four years later, at age 21 he joined the PGA. In that same year, he married Vivienne Verwey who would eventually bear him 6 children and 22 grandchildren. Then, in 1958, during his second year on the PGA Tour, he won the Kentucky Derby Open, followed in 1959 with a victory at the British Open, his first major championship. By age 24, he had launched what would become one of the most celebrated careers in golf.
In his 50-plus years on the links, Gary Player won nine major championships: The Masters (1961, 1974, 1978), the U.S. Open (1965), The Open Championship (1959, 1968, 1974), and the PGA Championship (1962, 1972). He was also only one of five golfers to have achieved the Career Grand Slam, by winning all four major championships at least once. The other golfers to achieve this feat are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. During his career, he amassed 159 tournament victories playing on the PGA Tour, the Championship Tour and the Sunshine Tour.
In 1966, Gary Player was awarded the Bob Jones Award, the UPGA’s highest honor, in recognition of his distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Eight years later, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 2000, Player was voted “Sportsman of the Century” in South Africa, and in that same year he was ranked by Golf Digest as the eighth greatest golfer of all time. The “Gary Player – A Global Journey” exhibition was launched by the Hall of Fame as of March 2006.
Gary Player was known for his dedication to fitness and conditioning, enabling him to compete at a high level well into his 70’s. He became a strong advocate for physical fitness among professional golfers, promoting a healthy diet and sharing his rigorous training routines. In July 2013, at age 77, he posed nude in the annual Body Issue of ESPN_The_Magazine to inspire people to look after their physique into their senior years.
Player was a true global ambassador for golf and played an essential role in popularizing the sport beyond its traditional strongholds. He traveled extensively to promote golf and designed golf courses all over the world. During those years, has been involved in numerous charitable and philanthropic efforts. He established the Gary Player Foundation, that focuses on education for underprivileged children and other humanitarian causes. Gary Player, an ardent believer in combining mental and physical strength, once mused, “A strong mind is one of the key components that separates the great from the good..” On another occasion he said, “We create success or failure on the course primarily by our thoughts.“
