As one of golf’s “Big Three,” Gary Player set the standard for worldwide tournament play, winning more than 100 titles including nine major championships. Luck is the residue of hard work, Player is prone to say, and he is quick to credit his father, who worked as a captain in a gold mine 12,000 feet underground, teaching by example that with hard work he could do anything.
“I was with him one time when he finished work,” said Player, host of the Nedbank Golf Challenge that starts on Thursday. “He took off his shoes and poured water out.