Gary Player to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Career Grand Slam


Gary Player will celebrate the 50th anniversary of completing the career Grand Slam this year. The only other golfers to have accomplished the feat of winning all four of the game's major championships are Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

"The Grand Slam is certainly one of my greatest achievements because it showed that all my hard work had paid off," said Player, whose final Slam win came in the U.S. Open. "With that 1965 victory, I became the first non-American to win the U.S. Open in 45 years and became only the third - and youngest, at 29 - to win the Grand Slam. This was an enormous achievement for me."

By 1965, he had already become the youngest British Open victor at age 23 and the first international winner of the Masters. When Player arrived at Bellerive Country Club with three majors, he was convinced he could win the tournament and complete the Grand Slam. That belief proved correct as it was Player who lifted the U.S. Open trophy after a Monday, 18-hole playoff round against Australia's Kel Nagle.

While the 79-year-old South African celebrates his monumental feat in 2015, he and the other career Grand Slam winners could be joined by Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson. McIlroy needs a win at the Masters, while Mickelson's illustrious career is only short of a U.S. Open title.

Player, who won nine majors total, remains the only international golfer to have his name etched on each of trophies for the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship. Should Northern Ireland's McIlroy don a green jacket this April at Augusta National, he will join Player as the only other international career Grand Slam winner.

Player also owns a career Grand Slam on the over-50 Champions Tour as well, where he accrued nine majors. All told he has 165 pro tour victories worldwide.

After winning the '65 U.S. Open, Player made his first strides toward the greater good when he donated all his tournament earnings to charity. He had previously promised Joe Dey, the USGA's executive director at the time, that if he won the U.S. Open he'd donate his winnings. Upon being handed the winner's check following the 18-hole playoff with Nagle, he upheld his promise and gave the winning check back to Dey, specifying that the proceeds go to two important causes: cancer research - in honor of Player's mother who died of cancer - and the development of USGA junior golf programs.

"I was extremely thrilled to be able to give back at that moment, especially since it was such an enormous milestone in my career," said Player.

The athlete - widely considered the best-conditioned golfer in history - continues to carry out that vision by raising funds for underprivileged children through his Gary Player Foundation. Since its establishment in 1983, the organization has raised almost $60 million worldwide for those in need.

Player continues to stay busy; he will celebrate his 80th birthday November 1. "Rest is rust," he said. "Age is just a number. I am thrilled to celebrate my 80th birthday in November, but in my mind I am still in my 40s."