Gary Player is regarded by many as one of golfs all time greats. For those who aren’t aware, golf’s version of “The Big Three” are Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and – the man himself – Gary Player.
He turned Pro in the PGA in 1953 and has been heavily involved in the game ever since.
To put it simply: Gary Player knows golf, so you should listen to what he says.
Recently he declared that we need our “black champion”, once again, to rise to number one in the world; and not with out reason.
“We need Tiger Woods. Why? He’s a man of color. We need a black champion,” the golf legend told Omnisport at the Berenberg Gary Player Invitational. “Go to Africa where we’ve got all these young black kids used to seeing a white guy as the champion. Now they’re getting inspired, they’re sitting in front of their TV sets, it inspires them, it gets them interested in golf.
“Asia wants to see a man of color. So there are many reasons besides being so charismatic. I don’t know if anybody in the world today can play like Tiger Woods did.”
At first people may be taken back by the bluntness of his comments, but at least he backed it up with some thoughtful reasoning. You may disagree with it, but at least this guys thought this out and didn’t just blurt it out during some interview.
Gary Player truly supports and wishes Tiger Woods well. As for why Tiger has been struggling, the South African was just as candid in saying that it looks like the coaches fault.
“He won the U.S. Open by 15 shots and was having a lesson the next week,” the South African added. “He’s had lessons from four people or five people who really are not that good at playing.
“You’ve got to go for a lesson with someone who has been in the arena. If I want to know about business I’ll go to a businessman, I’ll come to you for good interviews; everyone has got their skills.
“But Tiger Woods, he needs it overall — mentally, physically and theoretically — so he can get back to normality.”
That last quote almost leads me to believe that Gary Player is just looking for a coaching job, but regardless; I still agree with him – we need Tiger back.
H/T SportingNews