Gary Player, Worldwide Golf Executive Editor since 1999: WHAT a week that was at last month’s Masters. It all began with a very moving, emotional moment with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and me together again as ‘The Big Three’ on the first tee in the Par-3 Contest, as we have done for many years as Honourary Starters of the tournament.
Sadly, Arnold was not able to hit his ceremonial tee shot but Jack and I teed off and I dedicated my drive to Arnold. It was gratifying that I managed to outdrive Jack with a nice tee shot straight down the fairway.
It got better as we went on! It was a great moment for me to make a hole-in-one on hole 7, a hole that I had aced during the Par-3 Contest many years ago.
The biggest surprise was that there were 12 holes-in-one during The Masters week. The odds of that happening must be 5,000,000-1. There were nine in the Par-3 Contest and three in the tournament itself. That’s some sort of record! The funny thing is that when the balls were dropping into the hole straight off the tee, spectators were saying, ‘well they’re supposed to do that, aren’t they?’
The focus was on Jordan Spieth, who was expected to run away with another Green Jacket. But after the event the theory was that Jordan unintentionally threw the tournament away when he had victory in his grasp. But, in my mind, Spieth just didn’t play well enough overall, and particularly in the last round, to warrant a win.
Whereas, Danny Willett did play well and he deserved his win. If you go back to the last two holes of his Saturday round, Spieth made mistakes that cost him three strokes and early on Sunday he was still prone to an error or two.
Willett, on the other hand hit his drives down the middle of the fairways, hit the greens and made the required putts. He played magnificently – bogey-free with five birdies. But some people couldn’t see what was happening and merely continued to focus on Spieth.
Spieth needs to tweak his backswing because he’s currently not hitting the ball straight. His putting remains his main asset but he shouldn’t be relying on his putting alone. Rory McIlroy played well but he’s got to improve his putting. If you look at how well Rory hit the ball during the tournament and the way Spieth hit the ball, although Jordan beat Rory by three shots, the Irishman would have won by six shots if he’d had Spieth’s putting touch.
It was a shame for Bernhard Langer to fade out of contention during the final round. He finished with a 79 and it was a real anti-climax. If he could have shot 74 or 73 it would have been great, but, nevertheless, it was a good effort. He was outstanding for 54 holes but it’s a 72 hole tournament. I’m not being critical, but I always set my sights high. There’s a lot of talk currently about ‘so-called golfing superstars’ but in my view, you’re not a superstar unless you win six Majors. People may say – ‘with five Majors surely Seve Ballesteros was a superstar?’ I’ll reply, ‘no, he’s not’. He didn’t have the longevity because his career went on such a sharp decline after the age of 36. I was frustrated at The Masters because I was disappointed that Bernhard didn’t shoot a good score on the final day. But The Masters was still memorable for Danny’ Willett’s win. Remember also that if his wife had given birth to the baby when it was due, Danny had said he wouldn’t have played at Augusta – and he wouldn’t now be Masters Champion.
In the event, one week has changed his whole life. What a week indeed!
My Most Memorable Hole In One
I was playing in The Tradition, a major tournament on the US Champions Tour in Arizona with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer (The Big Three). We came to the 7th hole – a par 3. It was a double green, shared with the 15th hole. On the elevated tee with the wind behind us, I took a 6 iron and knocked the ball right into the cup! Then, we played the rest of the way round and came back to the same green, this time as the 15th – a par 5. I managed to hole a wedge for my 3rd shot. So, I had 2 eagles in the same round on the same green. Lyle Anderson, the owner and developer, kindly put a plaque on the back of the green saying “Gary Player is the only man to eagle the 7th and 15th in the same round.” I’d say that was probably my most interesting hole-in-one shot and I’ve had more than 20 in my career. My wife Vivienne once had two holes-in-one in the same round,which she keeps reminding me about. So I have had this on my mind and have always wanted to achieve the feat myself. After those two eagles at The Tradition, we came to the par-3 17th. I hit my tee shot and the ball actually rolled right around the cup and stopped on the edge.
I would have given anything to tell Vivienne that I also had two holes-in-one in the same round, but it just never happened! Remember, the harder you practice, the luckier you get!
