UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – Early in his pro career, Gary Player sat at a coffee shop in Baton Rouge, La., when fellow PGA Tour pro Doug Sanders proposed the following scenario: if he gave Player $250,000, a small fortune in those days, would he retire to a ranch in his native South Africa?
Without hesitation, Player responded: “I couldn’t do it, laddie.”
“Why the hell not?” Sanders shot back.
“Because I’m going to win all four majors.”
Fifty years ago June 20 at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Player outlasted Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.