GARY PLAYER.
One of the most successful international golfers of all-time, Gary Player has travelled further in pursuit of his sport than any athlete in history - around fourteen million miles...
He is now available to speak in the UK for exclusive and very high budget functions. He is both anecdotal and motivational.
One of only five players to win golf's career Grand Slam joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in the feat...
Completed Grand Slam at age 29 in 1965...
Only player in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades...Last won Masters in 1978, when he started seven strokes behind the leaders entering the final round and won by one shot with birdies at seven of the last 10 holes for a back nine 30 and a final round 64...
One week later came from seven strokes back in the final round to win the Tournament of Champions...
The last player to win three tournaments in a row on the PGA TOUR when he captured the Houston Open the week following the Tournament of Champions in 1978.
Champions TOUR:
Eclipsed $7 million in US TOUR combined career earnings...Won his first Champions TOUR event taking the 1985 Quadel Seniors Classic in his debut...Top 10 on the Champions TOUR money list from 1986-1990...
Had one or more victories in each of his first seven years on the elder circuit, nine of twelve years overall...
Outdueled Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino for his third Senior PGA Championship title in 1990...Largest paycheck of his career came at a Champions TOUR event winning $202,500 at the 1989 RJR Championship...
Five-time winner in 1988 including the PGA Seniors and US Senior Open...Defeated Bob Charles in a playoff that year at Medinah for the US Senior Open title, his second in a row...Earned his 18th official Champions TOUR win six weeks before his 60th birthday...
Won back two back titles in 1997 at the British Senior Open and the Shell Wentworth Masters...Became the second oldest winner on the Champions TOUR by shooting three consecutive rounds of 68 to capture the 1998 Northville Long Island Classic. In January 2000, shut out through the first 18 holes, Player staged the biggest comeback in the history of the Senior Skins Game by making a birdie on the first playoff hole to win four skins and a $220, 000 jackpot to win the match.
Other Notes: Dubbed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness and the International Ambassador of Golf...Renowned golf course architect with over 200 design projects throughout the
world.
Gary Player Stud Farm has received worldwide acclaim for breeding top thoroughbred race horses including 1994 English Derby entry Broadway Flyer...
Operates The Player Foundation with its primary objective to promote education. The Foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has educational facilities for over 500 students from kindergarten through grade 8 and is currently working on additional educational projects around the world.
Member of the Laureus World Sports Academy. Captained the UBS Warburg Cup with Arnold Palmer in November 2001 and 2002. Appointed Captain of the International Team for The Presidents Cup in 2003, with Jack Nicklaus on a course he designed; namely, The Links at Fancourt in George, South Africa.
GARY PLAYER BIOGRAPHY
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 150 lbs or 68 kgs
Birthplace: Johannesburg, South Africa
Family: Wife - Vivienne; Children - Jennifer, Marc, Wayne, Michele, Theresa and Amanda. Thirteen grandchildren.
Special Interests: Breeding thoroughbred racehorses; farming; physical fitness; The Player Foundation benefiting children's education; Black Knight International including Gary Player Enterprises, Gary Player Design, Gary Player Golf Academy and Gary Player Golf Equipment.
Turned Professional: 1953
Joined PGA TOUR: 1957 Joined Champions TOUR: 1985
Career Championships: 163 Worldwide Career Earnings: Over $11 million
Major Championships: (TOTAL: 9) Three Masters (1961, 1974, 1978), three British Opens (1959, 1968, 1974), two PGA Championships (1962, 1972) and the US Open (1965).
Senior Major Championships: (TOTAL: 9) Three Senior PGA Championships (1986, 1988, 1990), two Senior US Opens (1987, 1988), three Senior British Opens (1988, 1990, 1997) and the Senior Players Championship (1987).
US PGA TOUR: (TOTAL: 24) 1958 Kentucky Derby Open. 1959 British Open Championship. 1961 Lucky International, Sunshine Open, Masters. 1962 PGA Championship. 1963 San Diego Open. 1964 "500" Festival, Pensacola Open. 1965 US Open. 1968 British Open. 1969 Tournament of Champions. 1970 Greater Greensboro Open. 1971 Greater Jacksonville Open, National Airlines Open. 1972 New Orleans Open, PGA Championship. 1973 Southern Open. 1974 Masters, Danny Thomas-Memphis Classic. 1974 British Open. 1978 Masters, Tournament of Champions, Houston Open.
Other Championships: 1959, 1968 and 1974 British Opens; winner of the South African Open 13 times between 1956-1983; seven-time winner of the Australian Open; five-time World Match Play Championship; individual titles in 1965 and 1977 World Cup of Golf; winner of World Series of Golf in 1965, 1968 and 1972; 1957 Australian PGA Championship; 1972 and 1974 Brazilian Open; 1976 South African Dunlop Masters; 1980 Chile Open; 1984 Johnnie Walker tournament (Spain); 1994 Skills Challenge.
US PGA Champions TOUR: (TOTAL: 19) 1985 Quadel Seniors Classic. 1986 General Foods PGA Seniors Championship, United Hospital Classic, Denver Post Champions. 1987 Mazda Senior
TPC, US Senior Open, PaineWebber World Seniors Invitational. 1988 General Foods PGA Seniors Championship, Aetna Challenge, Southwestern Bell Classic, US Senior Open, GTE North Classic. 1989 GTE North Classic, RJR Championship. 1990 PGA Seniors Championship. 1991 Royal Caribbean Classic. 1993 Bank One Senior Classic. 1995 Bank One Senior Classic. 1998 Northville Long Island Classic.
Other Senior Championships:(TOTAL: 12) 1988, 1990, 1997 British Senior Open, 1986, 1988 and 1991 Nissan Senior Skins, 1987 Northville Invitational, Long Island, NY, German PGA Team Championship, Captain, Chrysler Cup, 1993 Irish Senior Masters. 1997
Dai-ichi Seimei Cup (Japan), Shell Wentworth Senior Masters, London, England, 2000 Senior Skins Game, Mauna
Lani, Hawaii.
Other Achievements: Leading money winner on the PGA TOUR in 1961...Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974...South African Sportsman of the Century
award...
2000 PGA Tour Ambassador of Golf Award...NEC World Championship of Golf Trophy named the Gary Player Cup...
Over $11 million in combined worldwide earnings...Celebrated his 47th anniversary as a professional in 2000...Named Honorary
Member of Carnoustie Golf Course in 1999...Named Honorary Member of the R&A in 1994...Player bred horse Broadway Flyer competed in the 1994 English Derby...Entered his 47th consecutive British Open in 2001...Received Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from St. Andrews in 1995...Was presented the Hilton Hotel Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995...Received Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Ulster, Ireland in
1997...
Received Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Dundee, Scotland in 1999...
In gusty winds at the 1998 Masters, became the oldest golfer ever to make to the cut, breaking the 25 year old record set by Sam Snead…Appointed "Global Ambassador to Shell's Wonderful World of Golf" Series sponsored by Shell Oil…
And most recently, received the 2003 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monte Carlo.