Academy Members

A true legend of golf, South Africa’s Gary Player has won over 160 titles worldwide and is one of only five golfers to have completed golf’s coveted Grand Slam by winning all four major championships. Renowned for his extraordinary work ethic and his emphasis on fitness, Player is a man of strong religious beliefs. Throughout his career, he completely lived up to his maxim - "the harder I practise, the luckier I get."

Generally playing in black, Player was dubbed the ‘Black Knight’ and over the years has proved to be one of golf’s most enduring and determined competitors. He is the world’s most widely-travelled golfer ever to play the game having travelled over 14 million air miles and still counting. He has collected 42 senior and regular tour wins in the United States, 73 on the European Tour and 34 on the Australasian Tour. In addition, he has won in Africa, Japan, Canada and South America.

He won his first tournament in Britain in 1956 and played for the first time on the US Tour the following year. His first major championship victory came in 1959 when he won the British Open Championship at Muirfield. After winning the US Masters in 1961 and the US PGA Championship in 1962, Player then made golfing history in 1965 when his US Open victory at Bellerive enabled him to complete the coveted career Grand Slam of all four major championships, following in the footsteps of Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen and to be joined later by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Player won nine major championships in total, three British Open Championships, three US Masters, two US PGA championships and the US Open. He is the only modern player to win the Open Championship in three different decades. He joined the Champions Tour in 1985 and has since won 23 times worldwide, including nine Senior Majors - three PGA Seniors Championships, two US Senior Opens, three Senior British Opens and The Senior Players Championship title.

Globetrotting Player has also won the South African Open and the South African Masters 13 times apiece, the Australian Open a record seven occasions, two Australian Masters titles, the World Series of Golf in 1965, 1968 and 1972 and two Brazilian Opens (one in which he shot 59). He became the first man to secure a record five World Matchplay titles at Wentworth, England.

Player is a renowned golf course architect with over 200 projects around the world. He designed the course at the Tournament Players Club at Jasna Polana near Princeton, New Jersey and The Links at Fancourt in South Africa, the site of the 2003 Presidents Cup. He operates Black Knight International, which includes Gary Player Golf Equipment, Gary Player Golf Academy and Gary Player Enterprises, aspects of which include licensing, publishing, videos, merchandising and memorabilia. The Gary Player Stud Farm has received worldwide acclaim for breeding top thoroughbred racehorses.

Additionally, Player operates The Player Foundation, an organisation dedicated to promoting education around the world. The Foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has educational facilities for over 500 students from kindergarten upwards. Awarded the mantle of South Africa's Sportsman of the Century in 2000, Player was named an Honorary Member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1994 and in 2003 he received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award from his fellow Laureus World Sports Academy members.