A legendary golf pro shared a sad declaration while taking part in the 2023 Masters ceremonies. Gary Player helped kick off the tournament with the ceremonial tee shot. And when the 87-year-old walked down the stairs, he told fans that “wasn’t bad for a guy who’s getting near 90.” He then made a morbid statement to the people at Augusta National Golf Club.
“All my friends are dead,” Player said. The nine-time major champion then picked up a child before walking away. Player was having some fun with the fans, but he also expressed his frustrations with the Masters. When speaking to The UK Times last week, Player, who won the Masters three times in his career, talked about how he can’t get access to the course to play a practice round.
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“After all I’ve contributed to the tournament and been an ambassador for them, I can’t go and have a practice round there with my three grandchildren without having to beg a member to play with us, and there’s always some excuse. It’s terribly, terribly sad,” Player said, per Fox News. “I’ve played my role: I’ve won it three times. I was in the top ten 15 times. I made the most number of cuts in a row ever, yet here we are struggling to get a round.”
Player went on to say that he can’t get a tee time, leading him to rank the Masters last out of the four major tournaments. “That’s [one of the reasons] why I rate the Open No 1. If it wasn’t for the players, [Augusta] would just be another golf course in Georgia, he said. “But, never mind the Masters, the Open is by far the greatest tournament on the planet. I rate the Open at one, the U.S. Open two, PGA three and Augusta four. Four marvelous tournaments.”
Player won the U.S. Open in 1965 while winning the Masters in 1961, 1974 and 1978. He placed first in 24 PGA Tour events and recorded 159 wins in his professional career. Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974, won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021.
