When Gary Player called out Tiger Woods critics’ ‘nonsense’ comment on ‘working out too hard’ - “I won a tournament at 63”
Gary Player, the legendary South African golfer, once disagreed with Tiger Woods’ fans. Woods underwent surgery in 2014, and due to that, he missed that year’s Masters Tournament for the first time since 1994. Player also rejected the claim made by Tiger Woods' ex-coach that he (Player) taught Woods some golf techniques from another famous golfer, Ben Hogan.
Before Woods went under the knife, he was obviously feeling a lot of pain. His back problems were giving him enough trouble with his golf. However, a few people didn’t like his approach at that time and said that Woods hurt himself because of too much weightlifting.
Player blasted the critics and said, via SB Nation:
"The greatest technology in the future is going to be eating, how athletes eat. The night before I won the [career] Grand Slam [in 1965], I was exercising profusely, struggling with 325 pounds on a Saturday night, and everybody said, ‘You can’t do that and then play golf. You’re finished, you’ll never have a long career.’
Gary Player then added:
"I won a tournament at 63, so anybody who says that Tiger’s working out too hard talks absolute nonsense."
Player said this when he appeared on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike program. He also blasted Woods’ ex-coach, who claimed that Player taught Woods some of Ben Hogan’s techniques. He responded that Haney was wrong because Hogan never actually used those techniques.
Player actually offered Tiger Woods some advice about his mental game and said that “there are certain [things] mentally he’s doing wrong.”
Gary Player: A renowned golf course designer and a controversial character
Gary Player, the South African, is also known as the ‘Black Knight,’ ‘Mr. Fitness,’ and the ‘International Ambassador of Golf.’ His second most successful skill after playing golf is designing golf courses across the world. Player and his company have designed more than 400 golf courses worldwide.
However, Player is also known for his controversial views on apartheid. In 1966, he supported the apartheid policies of Hendrik Verwoerd in his famous book Grand Slam Golf. In this book, Player wrote:
“I must say now, and clearly, that I am of the South Africa of Verwoerd and apartheid ... a nation which ... is the product of its instinct and ability to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the alien barbarians. The African may well believe in witchcraft and primitive magic, practise ritual murder and polygamy; his wealth is in cattle."
Because of this, Gary Player had to face public protests, including one at the 1969 PGA Championship. But in 1987, he had a change of heart, and in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, he called apartheid "a terrible system."
Controversy didn’t stop following him when the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund withdrew its support from the Nelson Mandela Invitational golf tournament hosted by Gary Player. The reason behind this was that in 2007, the Junta government in Burma reportedly cracked down heavily on pro-democracy Buddhist monks. The controversy arose because Gary Player designed a golf course in Burma. The 89-year-old Player lives on Jupiter Island, Florida, in the US.