How Gary Player plays four rounds a week at age 90 and why he thinks he’ll still be playing at 100

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.

Player won his first of those in 1959, the British Open 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 U.S. 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.

We caught up with Player as he reflected on his latest milestone and his remarkable career. The interview has been edited for clarity.

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Instruction The Wisdom Of Gary Player

Can you believe that you are turning 90?

“I [don’t have to] make myself believe it because I still work hard, I still shoot par, I travel around the world. I’ve got energy coming out of my ears. It’s a great gift. I try to undereat, particularly at dinner time. I exercise in the gym, and I’ve done that since I was 9 years of age. And I laugh a lot. I’ve got an American girlfriend and all we do is laugh all the time. All the time.”

Did you imagine you would find love again?

“No. Are you kidding me? At 90? To find a girlfriend that loves golf, traveling, opera. Everything I like, she likes. Everything. It’s absolutely an act of God.”

Can you tell the story about your older brother and how you first began to exercise?

“He was going to war, at 17, to fight for the American flag. He said to me, ‘Look, I don’t know what you want to do.’ I said, ‘be a sportsman.’ He said, ‘you’re too small,’ and he bought me some second-hand weights. He said, ‘promise me you’ll exercise until the day you die,’ and I did. We went running one day and we were going to run a mile because I was practicing for school. I sat down and I said, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ There was a piece of sand there and he said, ‘write down [the word] can’t in the sand.’ I did that, and he took his hand and took my hand and rubbed out the letter ‘t’. He said, ‘Don’t ever let me hear you say that again.’ And I finished.”

How would you rank exercise, diet and rest in order of importance that led to you having this long, healthy life?

“I 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’ve got to exercise. It’s easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to get the average American to exercise—most people in the world, in fact. You have to exercise every day. The next thing is sleep. I’m a champion sleeper. I sleep nine to 10 hours a night. Last night, I slept 11. [Jack] Nicklaus always said traveling with me was like traveling on his own. Also, alcohol is a killer. Everybody is drinking. I don’t know if you noticed the Ryder Cup this year. Everybody is using the ‘F’ word. I’m just going to digress for a minute. The reason why the Ryder Cup should be scrapped, I’ll tell you …

Wait, you are calling for the end of the Ryder Cup?

“Yes, I would like to see them abolish it, and I’ll 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 world was watching and all you heard was ‘F’ this and ‘F’ that and you see people misbehaving.”

You don’t think there’s any chance it can be salvaged?

“There is. Just look at Augusta. Do you ever see that at Augusta? Do you ever see that at the U.S. Open? The British Open? No.”

Back to the issue of age. Are there any signs of aging in you that have been difficult and how have you responded?

“The only thing is I can’t hit the ball as far, that’s all.”

How far are you hitting it?

“240.”

When you play golf these days, what is your goal?

“I try to beat my age. But I love what Lee Trevino says, ‘What’s so good about that? You’re 90. Quit boasting about it.’”

Gary Player during the 1967 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

R&A Championships

Player hitting a shot at Royal Liverpool.

R&A Championships

Photographed by Ben van Hook for Golf Digest in 2002.

Gary Player talking to basketball star Yao Ming during the Mission Hills Celebrity Pro-Am in 2016.

Getty Images

Player speaks to media during PNC Challenge in 2019.

SOPA Images

Are you as excited to play as ever?

“Yes, 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.”

What is the one quality in your career that made you a great player?

“I 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 that Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods together. I’m the only one who won the grand slam on both tours. I won 165 tournaments.”

Why do you think you didn’t receive the appreciation you deserve?

“I don’t know what it is. Maybe because I’m inclined to be a little outspoken and they don’t like it. But people ask me a question, I answer.”

You recently ranked yourself as the third greatest player ever behind Nicklaus and Woods. Are you firm about that?

“Just put everybody’s record on a piece of paper and see if anyone [besides those two players] has a better record.”

How will the history books treat Tiger?

“I hope well. Tiger Woods is the greatest player golf has ever seen, but his record is not the best. Jack Nickaus’ record is the best. I can’t go by ifs. If I had lived in America, I would have won at least another three or four majors. Traveling from South Africa with six children, being away from home, living in motels … ”

“I try to beat my age. But I love what Lee Trevino says, ‘What’s so good about that? You’re 90. Quit boasting about it.’”

—Gary Player on his goal when he plays golf now Who would you pick in an 18-hole match between peak Nicklaus and peak Woods?

“It’s a completely different game. But if they both played the same game, exactly across the board, in their prime, I’d give it a tie.”

How has golf evolved in a good way and in a bad way?

“The bad way is that we’ve 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.”

What is your take on LIV?

“The 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’re not really winning a tournament. You’re winning a half tournament. There should be an asterisk behind your name. Unless it’s 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?”

Gary Player pulls off his patented leg kick once again for Augusta National patrons as honorary starter for the 2025 Masters.

Richard Heathcote

Do you have a major regret in your life?

“No. I can’t say that I have a single regret. I can tell you what I missed in my life. That’s 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.”

Is there one major of your nine victories you would put No. 1?

“The 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’t beat me.”

How will you celebrate the big day?

“We have 500 people coming from all over the world. We’re going to have kids from my school come here and do a dance and a song. We’re going to have bands playing. We’ll have the greatest cookout you’ve ever seen in your life with African music going and the big fires. And we’re all going to play 36 holes of golf on two courses here. It’s going to be unbelievable.”

What do you want to do in your life between 90 and 100?

“I 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.”

And you hope to be playing golf at 100?

“I sure as hell do, yes.”