{"id":521759,"date":"2026-04-09T16:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/521759\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:49:17","slug":"golf-legend-90-sparks-furious-online-backlash-with-comments-to-female-presenter-at-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/521759\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf legend, 90, sparks furious online backlash with comments to female presenter at Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gary Player sparked controversy at Augusta National on Wednesday when the 90-year-old golf legend made an unexpected remark to Sky Sports presenter Anna Jackson during the annual Par 3 event.<\/p>\n

The South African, who has won nine major championships and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s all-time greats, caught viewers off guard before Jackson could even pose her first question.<\/p>\n

Player turned to the camera crew and asked: “Why have you started working with this good looking chick, huh?”<\/p>\n

Jackson, visibly taken aback by the exchange, maintained her composure and replied: “What an introduction that is.”<\/p>\n

The clip rapidly spread across social media platforms, igniting fierce debate among golf fans.<\/p>\n

Viewers took to social media in droves to condemn what many described as inappropriate conduct from the golfing icon.<\/p>\n

“We sat there shaking our heads. The old creep,” wrote one viewer, while another stated: “He’s pandered to within golf.”<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary Player pictured at the Masters on Thursday<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

One fan expressed concern about the broader implications, posting: “Did anyone else hear Gary Player refer to Anna Jackson as a ‘good looking chick’ live on Sky Sports last night?<\/p>\n

“The worrying thing is, many people will think that type of behaviour is absolutely fine.”<\/p>\n

Others praised Jackson’s handling of the situation, with one commenting: “That guy always makes my skin crawl. Says a lot about Anna’s professionalism that I didn’t even pick up on it.”<\/p>\n

\"FiveFive quirky facts about golf | GETTY<\/p>\n

However, not all viewers were critical of the 90-year-old, with some rushing to his defence by pointing to generational differences.<\/p>\n

“He is from a totally different generation, the man is 90 years old. So the channel probably knows what they might get in terms of output,” one supporter argued.<\/p>\n

Another defended Player more forcefully, writing: “He’s 90 years old. Comes from a different era in a country with far bigger issues than upsetting a few bedwetters by calling a good looking girl, a good looking girl.”<\/p>\n

One viewer struck a more measured tone, noting: “I was disappointed to hear the comment. Anna was totally professional. <\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary Player won the Masters three times during his career<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“Not sure how much GP is aware of current norms but I’m sure he should be.”<\/p>\n

Player holds a distinguished place in Masters history, becoming the first non-American to claim a green jacket in 1961 before securing two further victories in 1974 and 1978.<\/p>\n

He also holds the record for the most Masters appearances, having competed 52 times between 1957 and 2009.<\/p>\n

Player’s relationship with Augusta has faced complications in recent years, however, after his son Wayne received a lifetime ban for a marketing stunt during the 2021 honorary starters ceremony honouring Lee Elder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gary Player sparked controversy at Augusta National on Wednesday when the 90-year-old golf legend made an unexpected remark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,50,2331,217,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-521759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-sgg","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}