The golfer Gary Player claimed was one of the best in the world who now ‘can’t play at all’ due to over coaching

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Gary Player has a reputation as being one of the most outspoken figures in the game of golf.

Player enjoyed a wonderful career, one that consisted of 159 worldwide wins, including 24 PGA Tour victories and an incredible nine major championships.

The 89-year-old South African still plays regularly to this day, but he is mostly in the news due to his controversial takes on current players and the modern-day game in general.

A few years ago, Player criticized the use of green-reading books on the PGA Tour and suggested that some of the skill has been taken out of the professional game.

The nine-time major winner certainly doesn’t hold back when airing his controversial opinions.

He’s always been a confrontational character as well.

Back in 1991, Player suggested that Tom Watson should give up the majors he won in 1977 due to the fact that the grooves on his Ram clubs were deemed to be non-conforming the following year.

The golfer Gary Player said was one of the best in the world who now ‘can’t play at all’

Ian Baker-Finch won The Open in 1991 at Royal Birkdale.

The Australian had reached the pinnacle of the game 34 years ago, but before he knew it, he literally couldn’t even hit a ball.

When playing alongside the late great Arnold Palmer at The Open at St. Andrews in 1995, the Australian unbelievably hooked his tee shot out of bounds to the left.

It’s worth noting that the first fairway at St. Andrews is commonly known as the widest fairway in golf.

Baker-Finch retired from playing competitively just two years after that embarrassing experience at the Home of Golf.

Player’s reasoning for the Australian’s struggles? A simple case of over-coaching.

Back in 1999, the South African explained why he thought Baker-Finch had gone from hero to zero in such a short space of time.

He said: “These coaches are like flies around these guys. They are on the practice tee, the chipping green, the bunkers, the putting green. Now when the bell rings, man, these guys can’t go on. They are saying ‘where’s my coach’?

“You know how good Ian Baker-Finch was. This is one of the saddest things I ever saw in golf. This guy was one of the top 20 best players in the world. The guy can’t play at all. I mean they go from champion golfer to rank bad golfer.

“They get over-coached. The players are being brainwashed. It’s not just hitting a golf ball that wins a tournament. That’s only 10 per cent of it. You have to trust your own instinct.“

Ian Baker-Finch’s results in majors after his 1991 Open win

Baker-Finch was a shadow of his former self in the years that followed his Open Championship victory.

Player suggested his struggles were a result of paralysis by analysis, and he may well have a point.

The last 11 major championships Baker-Finch played before retiring from the game saw him miss 10 cuts in a row before withdrawing from The Open at Royal Troon in 1997 following an opening round 92.

Baker-Finch went on to have a supremely successful career in the commentary booth after hanging up his clubs.

However, it still must frustrate him so much to this day that he was on the precipice of true greatness, only to completely fall away within a matter of months.