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Considered to be one of golf's greatest ever players, Gary Player, is still an active golfer at the age of 88. The nine-time major winner has spoken out in the midst of several PGA Tour players being poached by the LIV Golf league.
Rumors of several PGA Tour golfers being offered deals to move to the LIV Golf league have been circulating on social media. After golf legend Jack Nicklaus turned down a reported $100 million deal to join the Saudi-based league, Gary Player has now revealed that he was also offered a similar deal.
According to Bunkered UK, Gary Player turned down the offer as he was opposed to the idea of "excessive" money being put into the game. He said:
"There is a lot of money and quite honestly I’m not adverse to playing for a lot of money. But I think this high amount of money is hurting the game to a degree. Somebody would say, ‘Well, Gary would like to have that.’ Well, I was offered money too – in a different capacity – and I turned it down. Nicklaus was offered money. Tiger was offered money. We turned it down because we had a dream and an appreciation for what the PGA [Tour] did for us.”
Despite being an international ambassador for Golf Saudi, which aims to promote the sport in the nation, the three-time Open Championship winner rejected the chance to sign with LIV Golf as he choses to remain loyal to the PGA Tour. Financed by the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, each LIV Golf event has a prize purse of $25 million. Gary Player went on to say that other opportunities worldwide offer players a good paycheck.
"We’ve got a golfer from America right now. He’s going to play in the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa and they’re paying him $600,000. Six hundred thousand dollars! And he hasn’t been winning tournaments! [LIV is] giving Jon Rahm $540 million. I think that’s excessive. It’s just my opinion."
Gary Player Major Championship Record Explored
Having made a whopping 150 appearances in major tournaments over the course of his illustrious career, Gary Player has made the cut at 102 events. He has recorded nine victories and six runner-ups finishes, and became the first player of non-American origin to accomplish a career Grand Slam in 1965.
Here's a look into the former PGA Tour star's major championship victories. His total score for all four tournament days, along with his day-by-day scores are mentioned below in the parenthesis.
- 1959 Open Championship (4 under par) [75, 71, 70, 68]
- 1961 Masters (8 under par) [69, 68, 69, 74]
- 1962 PGA Championship (2 under par) [72, 67, 69, 70]
- 1965 US Open (2 over par) [70, 70, 71, 71]
- 1968 Open Championship (1 over par) [74, 71, 71, 73]
- 1972 PGA Championship (1 over par) [71, 71, 67, 72]
- 1974 Masters (10 under par) [71, 71, 66, 70]
- 1974 Open Championship (2 under par) [69, 68, 75, 70]
- 1978 Masters (11 under par) [72, 72, 69, 64]
