Gary Player at the Masters: Give it up, old-timer
The Black Knight should go gentle into that good night.
Gary Player is making his 50th appearance at the Masters this week, and swears he’ll be back next year, just to break Arnold Palmer’s record.
I’ve always liked the way the Masters lets the old champions play, within reason. Player is 71 years old now and doesn’t stand a chance in hell of winning and only a slightly lesser chance of making the cut.
I hate it when athletes hang on just to set records. It cheapens whatever record they’re going after.
Palmer himself probably made a few appearances in Augusta he shouldn’t have, well after his prime. The Masters people made some subtle hints a few years ago that past champions shouldn’t hang on just for the nostalgia.
What Player is doing isn’t driven by nostalgia, though there is certainly that, too. He’s doing it just to get his name in the record books.
There are ways to resolve the issue without making a public spectacle. Player is 71 years old. Tell him the tournament was last week. Or tell him he already holds the record. Tell him his name is really Arnold Palmer. Get a fake doctor to tell him he has a broken hip; everybody over 70 has a broken hip.
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15 comments
You some kind of German?
Gary Player may be in better shape mentally than me, but I have little doubt I could kick his ass if it came down to it.
He was accused of dropping a ball in the rough on the 71st hole of the British Open in 1974. Player denies the charge, and somewhat oddly, blames the accusations on the fact he had a black caddie at the time.
Tom Watson also accused him of cheating in the first Skins Game. Player also has a weird excuse for that one, saying that Watson waited too late to make his accusation known.
Incidentally, Player said he would never play at Augusta past the age of 70.
So, to recap: Is Player a cheat and a liar?
Or are these accusations false, and his promise of not playing at Augusta after age 70 simply forgotten?
What kind of history and tradition are you talking about?
Dropping a golf ball in the rough to gain an advantage? Yeah, that's a tradition I'd be proud of.
My complaint is against the baseball player who dedicated himself to taking the name Lou Gehrig out of the record book for the longest playing streak(2130 games).
wants to stick it to Arnie with Masters
#51. He's also pulling for Freddie to
blow up on Friday to keep his consecutive
cut streak to himself.
Apparently you do, and are a weak person.
My beliefs are strong, like my moral imperative, and cannot be swayed by lesser men and women.
Who the hell cares what some fawning TV pretty boy says about Gary Player? He's an egotist, pure and simple, and going to Augusta next year solely to add a meaningless record to his career.
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