Player Saying Goodbye with One Final Masters Appearance

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) — Fifty-two years ago, Gary Player arrived at the Masters with less than $5,000 to his name but an unwavering confidence that he could beat anyone.
Arnold Palmer? Jack Nicklaus? Bring 'em on.
For one decade after another, Player teed it up with the greats of the game at Augusta National, watching the rise of Tiger Woods and hanging around long enough to see yet another wave of promising young golfers arrive on the scene, mere teens born long after the South African won the last of his three green jackets.
But no one lasts forever, not even a fitness buff such as Player. Instead of dropping to his knees to rip off some push-ups, the Man in Black announced Monday this will be his final Masters.
“I'm exercising profusely, but it's very difficult at 73 to build strength,” Player said. “The golf course is so long. It is just so long. I mean, I'm hitting a wood to almost every single hole.”
Even when his chances of winning had long since passed, Player reveled in more modest accomplishments such as making the cut, or outlasting contemporaries such as Palmer and Nicklaus.
And now, playing a course that grew while his game was shrinking, Player always took pride in being the link to another generation, strolling proudly through the Georgia pines, occasionally pulling off a shot that would cause the patrons to say, “Wow, look at ol' Gary, hanging with the kids.”
Those shots were getting harder and harder to come by, however. He hasn't made the cut since 1998, when at age 62 he became the oldest player to reach the weekend at Augusta (a record eclipsed two years later by 63-year-old Tommy Aaron).
“I've managed to break 80 the last two years,” Player said. “It's getting to a stage now where I don't know whether I can do that out here. It's so long and I'm getting weaker.”
He did play long enough to set the mark for most Masters appearances, snapping a tie with Palmer by playing in his 51st last year.
No. 52 will be his last.
“There's a great saying that the Chinese have. They say, 'Everything shall pass.' And that's what we have got to realize,” Player said. “There's nothing worse than you see these boxers and athletes saying they are retiring and they come back and they get their knees knocked in and they end up punch-drunk.
“I've had such a wonderful career,” he continued, getting on a roll. “My goodness, when I think of the career I've had. You can't have it all, and I did have it all. I've had it all. You can't be greedy.”
He's already accomplished plenty, most notably a career grand slam and nine major titles in all. Player won his first Masters in 1961, another in '74, his final one in '78 at age 42. Not surprisingly, that third title is his favorite, a testament to his lifelong obsession with fitness, a crusade he carries to this day.
Player would prefer to forget the '62 Masters, when he squandered a chance to become the first golfer to win back-to-back at Augusta. With three holes left, he thought the title was his. But Palmer made an improbable birdie from the fringe at 16, another birdie at 17 and won a three-man playoff.
“I've always said, when you finish second, only your wife and your dog remember it,” Player quipped. “That's if you've got a good wife and a good dog.”
Northern Ireland phenom Rory McIlroy, only 19 and getting ready for his first Masters, struggled to grasp just how long Player has been around.
“Gary has been a tremendous competitor for, I don't know, since the '60s, would it be, or the 70s? Something like that,” McIlroy said.
Try the 1950s, Rory. In fact, only six other players in the field — all former champions — were even born when Player made his Augusta debut in 1957.
“The '50s? Really?” McIlroy said, breaking into a big smile. “He could still play. I think it's great that at this event, you could see all the past winners. They can come back and they can play. It just makes it a little more special and a little different. I think that's what the Masters is about.”
Player played a practice round Monday with defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman, a fellow South African who posed for a picture with his idol at age 5, then captured his first green jacket 30 years after Player won his last.
On Tuesday, Player will introduce Immelman at the champions dinner.
“The people I've met over the years, the battles that I had with Arnold and Jack and others, and now to see all of these young fellows coming along,” Player said.