Gary Player Biography

Gary Player won more than 160 professional tournaments across six continents, including nine major championships. He claimed victories at the 1959 Open Championship, 1961 Masters Tournament, 1962 PGA Championship, and 1965 U.S. Open to achieve the career grand slam. Player became the third golfer to win the modern career grand slam, a feat only matched by a few others since. In 2021, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Donald Trump. In 2020, he won a legal dispute involving the Gary Player Group. He ranked in the top ten of Mark McCormack's world golf rankings from 1968 to 1981, finishing second in 1969, 1970, and 1972. His final Masters win came in 1978, when he overcame a seven-stroke deficit after 54 holes, carding birdies on seven of the last 10 holes and a final round 64 to win by one shot.