Player still hungry for success

GARY PLAYER turned 68 at the beginning of the month and also celebrated 50 years as a professional golfer.

Age is only a number, the overused axiom tells us, but Player is the embodiment of the cliché. He looks and acts like a man 30 years younger.

He captains the International squad which plays host to the US, led by Jack Nicklaus, in the Presidents Cup matches at the Links Course at Fairport Hotel and Country Club Estate in George, South Africa, a course Player designed.

Player has perhaps unrealistic hopes for the Presidents Cup, launched in 1994. “It’s young compared to the Ryder Cup (1927),” he admits, “but, to me, it will end up being more exciting because the players America are playing against are better players.”

He is looking forward to squaring up to Nicklaus once again, but more pertinent is the symbolism surrounding the event.

“I hope the players think of more than just themselves because it will probably be the most special Presidents Cup ever. South Africa went through almost a half-century of apartheid. We are rid of that now. We have been denied the Olympic Games, the World Cup, a lot of things that I felt we really deserved.

“We needed something special to be encouraging to our population and to our new form of democracy. This is the biggest event that will ever take place in South Africa, coverage-wise, around the world. I hope the players bear this in mind what this event can mean to an emerging country.”

Player is motivated by one remaining goal, to become the first golfer to win a professional event in six different decades in the US. Neil Coles of England accomplished the feat overseas.

“It would be a record nobody could ever break,” he says. History is not on his side, however; the oldest winner, Mike Fetchik, was 63 when he captured the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational.

Player’s best finish this year was a tie for 22nd at the Mastercard Classic. “I can still play,” he says. “If I didn’t think I could win, I wouldn’t be out there.

"I’ve watched my diet and I’ve exercised.” He still works out five times a week and at 10 stone 6, he is 20 pounds lighter than when he won the final leg of the Grand slam, the 1965 US Open.

Player is one of five golfers to win all four majors. “Obviously, capturing the Grand Slam is a tremendous source of pride,” he says, “but I am also just as proud of my nine major championships on the Champions Tour.

"There is naivete even among the press that doesn’t quite realize how tough it is to win a major on the CT.”

“I’ve never had anyone say Gary Player has won nine majors on the PGA Tour and nine majors on the Champions tour. You might think I’m talking nonsense, but in my heart I'm almost as tickled with my major wins on the Champions Tour as I was on the PGA Tour.”

Player rarely talks nonsense as he shifts adroitly from topic to topic. He is engaging, at times inspirational, optimistic and funny. He is quick minded with an impressive recall of decades old events. But, he is not happy with the advances in golf technology.

“The only way you can have a good test now is to make courses 7,600 yards and above, and even then, it’s becoming a joke. You’ve got to cut the golf ball down 30 yards.”

On Woods versus Nicklaus he is unequivocal: “If you put Jack and Tiger together in their primes, same age, same equipment, I honestly believe Jack would have outhit him by 5 or 10 yards.”

In 2002 Player put his collection of trophies and memorabilia up for sale, raising speculation he might be in financial trouble. Player is eager to put the rumours to rest. “One thing I can promise you is I do not have financial difficulties,” he says.

He wants there to be one place for his plans and family to visit the collection - he has won more than 160 tournaments worldwide including 24 PGA Tour titles. He hopes to prevent any family disputes once he is gone. Part of the proceeds will go to charity.

Player lives with his wife Vivienne on a 12,000 acre ranch in Colesburg near Cape Town. He has six children and 13 grandchildren.

He is passionate about horses and breeds thoroughbred racehorses. Currently there are 200 in his stables. “If you ask if I’d rather be in the golf business or the thoroughbred business, I’d make a tie. I’m mad about both,” he said.

“But without golf I would have none of the luxuries I now enjoy. The ranch is starting to do well. We’ve produced the No.1 rated filly in her distance, Bright Sky. She’s won two stakes races. Our stallions are also doing quite well.”

CONVERSATION stopped when Player listened on his cellphone to a live race broadcast from South Africa. His filly finished a poor sixth. There would be more calls later in the day.

Player attributes his positive outlook and energy to his poverty as a child: “When you come from a poor family, the word ‘tired’ doesn’t come into your mind so easily. My mother died when I was eight. My dad was working in a goldmine 1,200 feet below the ground.

"I had to travel an hour and a half to school each way. I wouldn’t change any of it. There’s no question my background and early education helped me become a world champion golfer.

“When I’m around people who are down and miserable, I say if you think things are bad, get on a plane and fly to India and drive around and see people dying in the streets because of starvation.

"How the hell any man can complain when he’s got clothing, three meals a day, a home and a car. You’ve got to get things in perspective. What right do we have to complain about life?

“The biggest problem facing America is not terrorism,” he goes on. “It’s not nuclear wars. It’s obesity. People spend more money on their automobiles than their bodies.

“It’s one of the frustrations of my life. So little is said in school and by governments about the tragic problems of obesity. It’s the biggest fault in the Western world. It’s something I’m doing a lot of research on because I want to write a book on how to eat properly.”

And there is much more that he wants to do. “I will retire from competitive golf when I’m an embarrassment on the course. But I won’t retire from designing golf courses. I want to design too many golf courses, and hope to be doing that when I am 80. There are junior clinics and seminars, so many things that I can still do in this game.

“Retirement isn’t in my vocabulary. I want to speak to young people around the world. How could I get tired when I was a poor boy and I have the opportunity to do the things that I do.”

The cellphone rings again. His stud manager in South Africa is giving him the latest update on his horses. The phone will probably ring once or twice this weekend too, but they may be calls of congratulations for the winning captain.