One of the
true legends of
golf. Born, raised and learned the game in
South Africa. He was voted South African Sportsman of the
Millennium. He has won 21
PGA Tour events and 19
Senior PGA Tour Events.
Few have reached the levels of success that he reached in the game. The only other players that are really on a par (great golf pun!) with him are Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan. Tiger Woods is, however, looking to overtake all of them, in terms of success relative to his peers.
Dubbed the Black Knight because he used to dress only in black (still does, in fact), Mr. Fitness and the International Ambassador of Golf. He is a renowned golf course architect with over 100 design projects located throughout the world. Operates the Gary Player Group which includes Gary Player Golf Equipment, Gary Player Golf Academy and Gary Player Enterprises, aspects of which include licensing, publishing, videos, apparel and memorabilia.
He is an avid horse breeder and Gary Player Stud Farm has received worldwide acclaim for breeding top horses. He operates the Gary Player Foundation with its primary objective to promote education...The Foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He says his biggest thrill in golf is being the third player in history after Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan to win all four Grand Slam events...Has traveled more miles than any athlete in history, over 12 million by his calculations.
I recall a story he told me about when he was a young professional golfer competing in the British Open. In those days, golf did not pay much, in fact he was almost below the breadline. He was sleeping on the beach at St Andrews during the event. Golf was still such a gentlemen's game that it was discouraged, even frowned upon to become a professional golfer. In fact, the pros were not even allowed into the club house. Only members and royalty were admitted. Its quite ironic that now he is considered royalty of golf and he could pretty much do anything he wants at any course in the world.