Gary Player will go down as one of the all-time greats, not just in golf but in the wider sporting world.
Player claimed nine major championship wins during his fantastic career, in which he completed the grand slam.
Rory McIlroy completed the grand slam earlier this year, joining Player on the exclusive list with his win at The Masters.
The duo are joined by fellow legendary figures Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Gary Player couldn’t separate Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus
All six players can clearly be considered greats, but Player was tasked with naming his number one at The Masters in 2007.
He said: “Well, you talk about the best golfer in the world, you’ve got to take people who have performed in the world.
“It’s like the World Series of baseball. When I first came over here, I said, well, how many teams are playing, but they are not; it’s only American teams and they had it as the World Series.
“We must not forget if we talk about the world, the two people that have really impressed me, if I say my one and two are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Has Tiger Woods ever been handed a win like this in his career?
“But to compare Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods is like comparing oranges with bananas. Jack Nicklaus never played a green with soft spikes applied. Big, big thing.
“Vijay Singh [complained] about Phil Mickelson a few years ago, you’ll remember that; a few spike marks on the green.
“Every green we play with had hundreds of spike marks on the green. That’s what we played with. That’s what Jack Nicklaus played under.
“He never used a metal head in his prime. He never went into the factory and said: ‘My golf ball is climbing too much. Can you adjust this with my clubs? I don’t want them to climb so much.’ This was stuff that Hogan, a scientist, never even thought of.
“How do you compare Nicklaus and Tiger Woods? The ball goes at least 55 yards further. If you imagine Jack Nicklaus having hit the ball 55 yards further, what he would have done or players of our time, 55 yards further, every bunker is just uniform with a raking.
“But all of that into consideration, I’m going to give Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods a dead tie. It’s hard to do when they played in different eras.
“I try to say if they both played at the same time, I give them a tie. Jack Nicklaus’s record is superior at the moment, but if anybody is going to beat it, it’s Tiger Woods, but he’s got a long way to go. If anybody is going to do it, it’s Tiger Woods.”
What impressed Gary Player most about Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods
At the time of The Masters in 2007, Woods had 12 major championship wins to his name, but quickly added a 13th at that year’s PGA Championship.
He’s since secured two more to take his tally to 15, but remains behind all-time leader Nicklaus on 18 major wins.
Continuing his argument at Augusta back then, Player added: “I will say one very significant thing in my mind.
“Jack Nicklaus, if he played hypothetically 500 majors, or let’s say 300 majors, more realistic in his life, and he could have been effective in 250… this is all hypothetical.
“Tiger Woods, if he plays 300 majors, will be effective 290 because the one man is obsessed by being a real, real athlete.
“Now let me tell you, Jack Nicklaus for a time in his life was extremely strong. His legs were just as strong as Tiger’s and he hit the ball the exact same distance if you gave him the right club, the same equipment.
“But Jack Nicklaus’s body went on the wane, it deteriorated at a certain age, where Tiger Woods, his body is going to go on for a long time.
“So that’s a very, very significant thing that he’s going to be a tremendously strong athlete (flexing) if he has the desire, which I would imagine.
“But there’s so many variables in golf; all of a sudden he decides he doesn’t want to do it anymore. Will he? I don’t think so.
“So that’s the only way I can make a comparison. Jack Nicklaus putted as well as Tiger Woods. He drove the ball straighter than Tiger Woods.
“Tiger Woods is a better wedge player, better flop-shot player, better chipper, a better bunker player. Jack Nicklaus might have been a better 1-iron player and he was a better driver.
“They both had phenomenal, phenomenal minds. That impresses me the most. They stand out alone, that their minds were both superior to any two players I’ve seen in my life. I’ve got to put Hogan in there as well.”
Is Tiger Woods one of the greatest short game players of all-time?
Player was certainly accurate with his assessment of Woods in various areas, but sadly his physicality prediction has fallen short.
The American’s body has not lasted the test of time, with Woods undergoing back surgery for the seventh time earlier this season, following Achilles tendon surgery.
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