Gary Player is regarded as the best bunker player
of all time. He has won over 160 titles worldwide and is one
of only 5 golfers to have won the Grand Slam. So far Gary has
had a whooping 24 PGA Tour and 19 Champions Tour victories.
Gary Player is the most successful golfer in the world. He
has won over 60 more games than Jack Nicklaus, the man considered
by some to be the greatest golfer.
Player obsessively practises and prepares for every game and
follows an intense fitness regime which has earned him one
of his many nicknames - Mr Fitness. He is fitter than men decades
younger than him.
Gary Player has been dubbed the ‘Black Knight' as he always
dresses in black on the golf course. He won his first major
title in 1959 at the British Open despite being eight shots
off the lead halfway through. That year he won a further 6
titles. Gary is always determined to win as he was in a similar
position in 1978 when he won the US Masters after starting
the final round seven shots down but in the final 10 holes
of the couse he shot seven birdies to win. By 1961 Gary became
the first non-American to win the US Masters. In 1965 the Black
Knight became the third golfer to win the Grand Slam of all
four Majors; since then only a further two golfers have achieved
this victory. In 1985 Player joined the Senior PGA Tour and
has won 23 more titles. Player is the only person in the 20th
Century to have won the British Open in 3 different decades
1959, 1968, 1974. Gary Player also shares the record of lowest
ever round in professional golf of 59 which he got at the 1974
Brazilian Open.
Gary Player along with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer dominated
world golf during the 1960s and early 1970s. The three players
were nicknamed ‘The Modern Triumvirate.' The accolades Gary
Player has received demonstrate his importance in the golf
world. He was the tenth person to be named an Honorary Member
of the Royal and Ancient at St Andrews in 1994. By 1999 he
was named the World Federation of PGA Tour's International
Ambassador of Golf Award.
As well as successfully playing golf the Black Knight is a
renowned golf course architect. He has designed over 200 golf
courses worldwide. Gary is a shrewd business man too. He runs
Gary Player International which includes golf equipment, a
golf academy, licensing, publishing, videos and memorabilia.
Aside from golf Gary loves horse racing. He owns the Gary Player
Stud Farm which has been publicly praised for breeding top
horses. Gary also operates the Player Foundation which promotes
education.
| 
Gary Player
