When it comes to characters within the game of golf, there are not too many quite like Gary Player.
Gary Player has been a giant of the sport for well over 60 years. The South African is one of a handful of players to have won the career grand slam, while he finds himself on nine majors overall.
And Player continues to amaze people. He will turn 90 before the end of the year, and yet, it is hard to imagine that he has been able to keep count of the amount of times he has shot below his age over 18 holes.
It certainly seems that his passion for the game has not gone anywhere – as one PGA Tour player found out relatively recently.
Gary Player took Thomas Detry to task before his WM Phoenix Open
Thomas Detry made a real statement with his performance at the WM Phoenix Open. The Belgian won by seven shots at TPC Scottsdale, with some of the shots he produced coming down the stretch surely giving European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald some food for thought.
Given that performance, it is remarkable to think that the 32-year-old had not yet won on either the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour during his career.
And it turns out that Player was one of those who was baffled by Detry’s wait for a win. Speaking on 5 Clubs, Detry explained how he got a grilling from the veteran about his struggles to get across the line.
“I’m going to take it back to a couple of months ago, I was in Sun City in South Africa. I played nine holes with Gary Player. We didn’t have a heated [conversation], I have huge respect for Gary, he’s incredible. He’s one of the biggest names in the game. He won I don’t know how many times. One of the biggest athletes in South Africa. We had a conversation, he was just wondering why I hadn’t won. It was almost kind of telling me off why I hadn’t won. I was kind of telling him, I think there’s a bit of genetics in that sense that to some players, it comes easier. And to other players, they just have to work harder,” he said.
“He obviously asks you all these questions, ‘do you work out, Thomas?’ ‘Do you do this, do you do that?’ I’m like, yes I do work out. I do all these things. I do all that. It was pretty fun. We were not on the same page. He was saying, ‘you need to love it in your heart, you need to be a winner’. I was like, ‘yes I know that. I do really want to win a golf tournament and this is what my dreams are made of’, but I do think not to blame it on me, or not to say that I’m just unlucky, but it took me a little bit more hard work to get there than some other people. And I think it’s part of genetics, I really do.”
Detry may be one to watch on his Masters debut this year
If you take 2021 out of the equation – where he missed three cuts from three – Detry actually has a very respectable record in the majors.
He is yet to make his Masters debut, but he finished tied for fourth at the PGA Championship at Valhalla last year. Meanwhile, he made the top 15 on his most recent appearances at both the US Open and The Open Championship.
He will make his bow at Augusta National later this year following his impressive showing in Kentucky. And it will be fascinating to see just how much that victory in Phoenix frees Detry up.
Clearly, many felt that that win was a long time coming.
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