Angry Gary Player is not happy with one thing which happens in modern-day golf, ‘they’ve become so greedy’

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Gary Player thinks that modern-day golfers have it too easy compared to the struggles he went through 70 years ago or so.

Player‘s upbringing was not easy, and he often credits his childhood suffering as the key driving force behind his success as a professional golfer.

“What makes a champion? You can’t define it. But I believe it has a certain amount to do with suffering,“ Player explained.

“I am grateful for how I suffered as a kid,“ he said. “I suffered like a junkyard dog. I adored my mother. She died when I was nine years old. My father had to leave school at 15. He was one of six. He needed a job. The only job you could get in South Africa at his age was down a gold mine, 8,000 feet below the ground. He did that for 30 years.“

Player continued, “As a boy, I would wake up at 5 a.m. and walk an hour and a half to school and an hour and a half back. I’d come home to an empty house. I was nine, and I had to cook my own food. For two years, I would lie in bed, crying every night. And you know what? It’s the greatest gift I ever had in my life.“

Player is often critical of the PGA Tour stars of today, regularly sharing his belief that many of them have been handed everything on a plate.

While that may be true, the PGA Tour is still very much a meritocracy and in order to succeed at the highest level of the game, you simply need to produce the goods when it matters most.

Gary Player not happy with one thing which happens in modern-day golf

Player has recently criticized modern-day players like Dustin Johnson and believes there is a serious dearth of genuine competitors in the game right now.

However, when speaking to Golf.com, Player took aim at certain golfers and their managers for their sheer greed.

He said: “Something else that perturbs me now is the managers. They’ve become so greedy. I went to Hong Kong and this one guy who was playing, an ordinary player, his manager wanted $750,000 for him to play.

“We just had an event in Sun City in South Africa. That same man who played in Hong Kong didn’t make the cut. In my era, we were never greedy. We asked for appearance money, but we were never greedy.“

It’s a fair comment from Player. If golfers are receiving extortionate appearance fees before they have even made it at the highest level, they may well lose their hunger to compete.

It’s similar to how LIV Golf have paid huge fees to many of their players and, as a result, some of their performances have regressed due to the fact that they’re now set up for life.

Gary Player’s career PGA Tour earnings vs 82nd on the money list in 2025

It is quite incredible to see just how far golf has progressed regarding its popularity over the past 20-30 years.

The players are competing for prize funds that must make those from a bygone era wince.

Here is Gary Player’s career record compared alongside that of Nicolai Hojgaard – the player who earned the average amount of money on the PGA Tour last season:

Obviously Player has done incredibly well for himself financially, and is believed to possess a net worth of around $250 million.

It’s just remarkable to see his career earnings beaten by Hojgaard’s average 2025 haul.