The Virginia Golfer Conversation
GOLF’S IRONMAN
The legend with enviable non-stop energy gains satisfaction from the game and strength
from a life that continues to be well-lived | Interviewed by SCOTT MICHAUX
we all need to embrace fitness. So before he
heads to Augusta to eat a sensible portion of
the Australian fare reigning champion Adam
Scott serves at the Champions Dinner, Player
discussed a little bit of everything pertaining
to today’s game and society.
Gary Player’s
longevity can be
traced to being
one of the best
conditioned golfers
of all time.
VIRGINIA GOLFER: You never have to wait
very long between anniversaries at
Augusta, do you?
GARY PLAYER: [Laughs.] No. This will
be my 57th time at Augusta. That’s pretty
significant, isn’t it? It’s a nice feeling to
have the record with 52 appearances. That’s
longevity, which is my great passion, as I’m
trying to get the youth of America, that’s
so obese and so out of shape, interested in.
This year will be the 40th anniversary of
my second Masters win. It’s nice to still be
around. Most of my friends are dead.
VG: Two of your good friends will share
Player will celebrate the 40th anniversary
of his second of three Masters T
ournament
victories in April, getting the season’s first
24
major underway as an honorary starter with
his Big Three mates Arnold Palmer and Jack
Nicklaus. It’s been 53 years since the South
African became the first international player
to win the green jacket.
But it’s more than golf that the Black
Knight wants to be remembered for, and
he travels as much as he ever did trying to
spread the word that obesity is killing us and
V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH/A PRIL 2014
Master_VSGA_MarApr14.indd 24
VG: You still compete on the first tee
against Arnie and Jack.
GP: That’s why I’m in the gym every day.
I can outdrive Palmer by 100 yards, so
it’s not fair. But Nicklaus always outdrove
me so now I say, ‘It’s your turn, baby.
I’m outdriving you.’ [Laughs.] That’s the
[
great thing about the three of us—we
can needle each other and not take it too
seriously.
PETER HAPAK
S
At 78 years old, Gary
Player isn’t slowing
down. For him, that’s
the whole point.
that first tee with you. How long
would you like to be able to be an
honorary starter?
GP: I don’t know whether I’d be able to
go on the first tee at Augusta more than 20
more years. That depends, you know. It’s a
big thrill to do that. Between us, all majors—
senior and regular—we must have won 56
majors and competed all over the world
because we had an interest in promoting
golf around the world. And we weren’t paid
a million dollars and didn’t have a jet to take
us there. We competed against each other in
a vigorous manner. We tried to beat the hell
out of each other, but we had great love and
respect for each other.
w w w. v s g a . o r g
2/27/14 11:35 AM