Article: “Much respect for Gary Player – The Black Knight”

By Bobby Greenwood, PGA. Published by Tee Times Magazine, Summer 2023 issue, pages 16 and 17.

When I played the PGA Tour back in the 1970s, players were paired in the first round of tournaments according to three categories… one was tournament winners, second was consistent money winners, and the third was non-exempt players such as rookies, Monday qualifiers referred to as rabbits, etc.

If I qualified on Monday to play in the tournament and made the 36-hole cut on Friday, I then was paired on the weekend with some great players who had shot the same score as me for the first two rounds.

Therefore, during my seven years playing on the PGA Tour (1969-1975), I met and was paired to play with several great players. Some of the ones I played with were: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Watson, Lanny Watkins, Doug Sanders, Lee Trevino, Gene Littler, Tony Jacklin, Tom Weiskopf, Mason Rudolph, Lou Graham, Gibby Gilbert, Tommy Aaron, Dave Hill, Bob Charles, Hubert Green, Dave Stockton, Billy Maxwell, Homero Blanca, Frank Baird, Joe Campbell, Kermit Zarley, Babe Hiskey, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bruce Crampton, Deane Beman, and Jim Dent.

Also, it was indeed special when I got to play with some of the older icons of the game such as: Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Cary Middlecoff, Julius Boros, Johnny Revolta, Art Wall, Jerry Barber, Charles Sifford, and Peter Thompson.

But I must say that a man that made a great impression on me was my dear friend, Gary Player. He was a man of integrity and a fine Christian man.

We had some good times together. For instance, every year when the Byron Nelson Classic tournament was played in Dallas, Texas, Gary and I would go over to the Dallas Cowboys training camp and workout together… Rather intimidating being around NFL football players, but great fun.

Gary is 87 today and he is still in good shape both physically and spiritually. He is now retired but, in his prime years, he was widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and, he became only the third golfer in history to win the Career Grand Slam consisting of The Masters, The PGA, the U.S. Open and the British Open, following Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen; and only Nicklaus and Woods have performed the feat since.

Gary told me that when he was 16, he saw a movie called “Follow the Sun.” It was about Ben Hogan’s life. He said, “Hogan became my hero. He was a small man like me. He overcame the obstacles of his size and a terrible car accident and won 14 major championships.”

In the 1970s, Gary’s nickname was the “Black Knight” because he wore all black. He told me that it made him feel stronger. At 5’6” tall and 150 lbs., Gary worked very hard to keep in great shape and build his strength; he had a very strict diet and exercise routine. Several times at different tournaments, I remember walking into the locker room at the club and Gary would be in a corner standing on his head. He said it was to increase circulation to his brain.

Player has played in a record 46 consecutive British Open Championships, winning 3 times over 3 decades. Gary credited this feat to his dedication to the concept of diet, health, practice and golf fitness.

When I left the PGA Tour in 1975, I was hired by Sawgrass Country Club. It was great as host pro to once again see all the tour players as they came to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida to play in “The Players” Championship at Sawgrass. Gary finished T9th in 1976, T13th in 1977 and T28th in 1978.

Years later, when I was head pro at Suntree Country Club, a 36-hole resort in Melbourne, Florida, I hosted the Space Coast Senior Classic. There again I saw my old friends that I had played the regular PGA Tour with.

Gary played an exceptionally busy schedule all over the world, and he has been the world’s most traveled athlete having logged more than 16 million miles in air travel – in 2005 it was estimated that he had “probably flown further… than any athlete in history.”

Along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus he is often referred to as one of “The Big Three” golfers of his era – from the late 1950s though the late 1970s – when golf boomed in the United States and was greatly encouraged by expanded television coverage.

Being a wealthy pro golfer from Johannesburg, South Africa was not easy for Gary; he would tell me about some African tribes who believe in witchcraft, primitive magic, practice ritual murder and polygamy. My first year on Tour, I remember protests and threats toward Gary at the 1969 PGA. And in 1971 there were physical threats against Player at several tournaments. I would see him walking the fairway with security bodyguards provided by the tournaments.

In order to alleviate some of the danger and stress, Gary started the Player Foundation in 1983. It began as an effort to provide education, nutrition, medical care and athletic activities, for a small community of disadvantaged children living on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Gary was reared by a God-loving mother in South Africa. He said each night she would kneel by his bed and pray. He was a lad of eight when she died of cancer and at that time, he remembered sensing a deep desire to serve God. In later years, Gary said, “thanks to the Bible and men like Billy Graham and Gary’s fellow pros in the weekly Bible Study on the PGA Tour, he felt his purpose was now clearer and higher.”

Since its establishment, The Player Foundation has donated over $70 million to the support of children’s charities, the betterment of impoverished communities and the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the world.

On April 10, 2009, he played for the last time in the Masters, where he was playing for his record 52nd time. Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters announced on July 5, 2011 that Player has been invited to join Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter. The Big Three were reunited in this capacity starting with the 2012 tournament. Arnie died in 2016 and now Tom Watson has joined the group as Honorary Starter.

Gary is one of the world’s greatest ambassadors of goodwill and peace. There is something special about this little, energetic man and certainly, Gary Player has owned this energy for most of his 87 years. Lucky for the world, he has shared it with us for the past 70 years through the role of professional golfer.

Gary received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 7, 2021 from our then President Donald J. Trump.

SOURCES/CREDITS: