{"id":254972,"date":"2025-11-01T07:30:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T07:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254972\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T07:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T07:30:28","slug":"how-gary-player-plays-four-rounds-a-week-at-age-90-and-why-he-thinks-hell-still-be-playing-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254972\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gary Player plays four rounds a week at age 90 and why he thinks he\u2019ll still be playing at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gary Player, as energetic and effusive as ever, turns 90 years old on Saturday. The nine-time major winner will celebrate the occasion with a huge gathering in his native South Africa.<\/p>\n

Player won his first of those in 1959, the Open Championship at Muirfield, at age 23, the youngest Open champion in the 20th century. His last came in the 1978 Masters, Player recording a six-under 30 on the back nine to rally from seven back to prevail by a stroke. He was also the first non-American to capture the career Grand Slam when he won the 1965 US Open at Bellerive Country Club outside St Louis. No one, it can be argued, has been a more influential ambassador for the game around the globe.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Gary Player reveals his top 3 golfers of all time, and it may surprise you<\/a><\/p>\n

We caught up with Player as he reflected on his latest milestone and his remarkable career. The interview has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI [don\u2019t have to] make myself believe it because I still work hard, I still shoot par, I travel around the world. I\u2019ve got energy coming out of my ears. It\u2019s a great gift. I try to undereat, particularly at dinner time. I exercise in the gym, and I\u2019ve done that since I was 9 years of age. And I laugh a lot. I\u2019ve got an American girlfriend and all we do is laugh all the time. All the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you imagine you would find love again?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Are you kidding me? At 90? To find a girlfriend that loves golf, travelling, opera. Everything I like, she likes. Everything. It\u2019s absolutely an act of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you tell the story about your older brother and how you first began to exercise?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was going to war, at 17, to fight for the American flag. He said to me, \u2018Look, I don\u2019t know what you want to do.\u2019 I said, \u2018be a sportsman.\u2019 He said, \u2018you\u2019re too small,\u2019 and he bought me some second-hand weights. He said, \u2018promise me you\u2019ll exercise until the day you die,\u2019 and I did. We went running one day and we were going to run a mile because I was practising for school. I sat down and I said, \u2018I can\u2019t do it anymore.\u2019 There was a piece of sand there and he said, \u2018write down [the word] can\u2019t in the sand.\u2019 I did that, and he took his hand and took my hand and rubbed out the letter \u2018t\u2019. He said, \u2018Don\u2019t ever let me hear you say that again.\u2019 And I finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

How would you rank exercise, diet and rest in order of importance that led to you having this long, healthy life?<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say for an American to live a long time the most important thing for him to do is to stop eating so much and become obese. No.2, you\u2019ve got to exercise. It\u2019s easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to get the average American to exercise \u2013 most people in the world, in fact. You have to exercise every day. The next thing is sleep. I\u2019m a champion sleeper. I sleep nine to 10 hours a night. Last night, I slept 11. [Jack] Nicklaus always said travelling with me was like travelling on his own. Also, alcohol is a killer. Everybody is drinking. I don\u2019t know if you noticed the Ryder Cup this year. Everybody is using the \u2018F\u2019 word. I\u2019m just going to digress for a minute. The reason why the Ryder Cup should be scrapped, I\u2019ll tell you \u2026<\/p>\n

Wait, you are calling for the end of the Ryder Cup?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I would like to see them abolish it, and I\u2019ll tell you why. Nobody loves golf more than me, but I love golf to such an extent that I sat there and cringed. The whole word was watching and all you heard was \u2018F\u2019 this and \u2018F\u2019 that and you see people misbehaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t think there\u2019s any chance it can be salvaged?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is. Just look at Augusta. Do you ever see that at Augusta? Do you ever see that at the US Open? The British Open? No.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the issue of age. Are there any signs of aging in you that have been difficult and how have you responded?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing is I can\u2019t hit the ball as far, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

How far are you hitting it?<\/p>\n

\u201c240.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you play golf these days, what is your goal?<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to beat my age. But I love what Lee Trevino says, \u2018What\u2019s so good about that? You\u2019re 90. Quit boasting about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gary Player during the 1967 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. R&A Championships<\/p>\n

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Player hitting a shot at Royal Liverpool. R&A Championships<\/p>\n

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Photographed by Ben van Hook for Golf Digest in 2002.<\/p>\n

\"161024-yao-ming-gary-player.jpg\"\/<\/p>\n

Gary Player talking to basketball star Yao Ming during the Mission Hills Celebrity Pro-Am in 2016. Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Player speaks to media during PNC Challenge in 2019. SOPA Images<\/p>\n

Are you as excited to play as ever?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I love playing and I play at least four times a week. And when I play badly, I still go hit a few balls afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the one quality in your career that made you a great player?<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly believe whoever I played against that I could beat them. You know, they never give me credit in America for my record. I won more national titles around the world than Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods together. I\u2019m the only one who won the grand slam on both tours. I won 165 tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do you think you didn\u2019t receive the appreciation you deserve?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what it is. Maybe because I\u2019m inclined to be a little outspoken and they don\u2019t like it. But people ask me a question, I answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

You recently ranked yourself as the third greatest player ever behind Nicklaus and Woods. Are you firm about that?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust put everybody\u2019s record on a piece of paper and see if anyone [besides those two players] has a better record.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will the history books treat Tiger?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope well. Tiger Woods is the greatest player golf has ever seen, but his record is not the best. Jack Nickaus\u2019 record is the best. I can\u2019t go by ifs. If I had lived in America, I would have won at least another three or four majors. Travelling from South Africa with six children, being away from home, living in motels \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Who would you pick in an 18-hole match between peak Nicklaus and peak Woods?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a completely different game. But if they both played the same game, exactly across the board, in their prime, I\u2019d give it a tie.\u201d<\/p>\n

How has golf evolved in a good way and in a bad way?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bad way is that we\u2019ve let the ball go too far. When I played with Jack in his prime, he hit a driver and wedge to the third hole at Augusta. Now they drive over the green.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your take on LIV?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second thing that is bad for golf is that we have two tours. Nobody is ever printing this, but when you win a tournament now, you\u2019re not really winning a tournament. You\u2019re winning a half tournament. There should be an asterisk behind your name. Unless it\u2019s a major. Half of the best players are playing LIV. And half the best players are playing the regular tour. So how can you take credit, like we took in our day, that you are the best in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gary Player pulls off his patented leg kick once again for Augusta National patrons as honorary starter for the 2025 Masters. Richard Heathcote<\/p>\n

Do you have a major regret in your life?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I can\u2019t say that I have a single regret. I can tell you what I missed in my life. That\u2019s having a mother [she died when he was 8] and a father [a miner] who had to spend most of his time 8,000 feet under the ground. And a brother who had to go to war for the Allies and be away from me when I was growing up and needed a brother. I lay in bed for two years. on and off, wishing I was dead, when I was 10 years of age. But that made me a world champion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there one major of your nine victories you would put No.1?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 1959 British Open. I shot 284 at Muirfield in the wind and rain. As a young man. How did I do it? I was not that good. Many guys could beat me in practice rounds, but when it came to the big tournaments, they couldn\u2019t beat me.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will you celebrate the big day?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 500 people coming from all over the world. We\u2019re going to have kids from my school come here and do a dance and a song. We\u2019re going to have bands playing. We\u2019ll have the greatest cookout you\u2019ve ever seen in your life with African music going and the big fires. And we\u2019re all going to play 36 holes of golf on two courses here. It\u2019s going to be unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you want to do in your life between 90 and 100?<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to dedicate my life to changing the lives of young people. Around the world, but mainly in America. By preaching education, manners, staying away from drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you hope to be playing golf at 100?<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure as hell do, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gary Player, as energetic and effusive as ever, turns 90 years old on Saturday. The nine-time major winner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-254972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}