Gary Player may not lack in self-belief, but Jack Nicklaus once cast doubt over how the South African would fare in the modern game if he was playing today.
Gary Player is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time. He won nine major titles, before winning the same number on the senior tour in the latter stages of his playing career.
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He is also one of six players to have won the Career Grand Slam. Player himself claimed he was the third greatest golfer to ever live, with only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods ahead of him.
Of course, it is extremely difficult to compare players from different eras. Equipment and technology has changed so much. Meanwhile, it does appear that there is so much depth on the PGA Tour today.
Jack Nicklaus said how Gary Player would fare in the modern game
Nicklaus will have a better idea than most of how the players he competed with would get on in a later era. And it seems that he is not convinced that the modern game would suit one of his greatest rivals.
Speaking to Golf Digest in 2008, the Golden Bear suggested that Player would struggle to be as successful.
“The pro game used to be 80 percent shotmaking and about 20 percent power. There were certain courses where power was a bigger factor, when the rough was down or the fairways were wide, and I absolutely tried to take advantage of it, because I had that element. I remember one round in New Orleans I drove the ball on the green of three par fours. I used power when it was prudent, and I could switch gears in the middle of a round,” he said.
“But from what I see, the pro game has switched to where it’s about 80 percent power and 20 percent shotmaking. Today, a Gary Player, a Ben Hogan, as talented as they were but with smaller statures, would have much less of a chance of being the best in the world.”
How far Gary Player drove the ball compared to Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
Player certainly made the most of his talent. There is arguably no one who can compete with the 90-year-old when it comes to an international record.
He was not a long hitter. As reported by Golf Monthly, Player himself once admitted in an interview that he always expected to be hitting first into a green when playing with Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
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Palmer tended to drive the ball between 265 and 270 yards. So Player presumably hit the ball shorter than 265 yards off the tee.
Nicklaus was clearly right nearly two decades ago that distance is becoming increasingly important. But Player would have surely adapted to try and make himself more competitive if that was the game that he needed to play.
He became phenomenal at the style of the time. You would surely think that the greatest of every era would find a way to make sure that they were successful in any period.
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