Gary Player's professional golfing career has been remarkable. Having joined the paid playing ranks in 1953, he is still playing exhibitions and hosting clinics 71 years later. He remains physically fit and continues to hit strong drives, as evidenced by his role as honorary starter for The Masters Tournament.
Player was a famed competitor, a steely match player and a habitual winner in his prime. Over a 70 year career he has racked up a remarkable 159 victories. He is a nine-time Major champion and was the first non-American player to complete the career Grand Slam. He accomplished that feat in 1965 upon taking the US Open title at Bellerive Country Club.
Consistency and repeatability have always been the cornerstones of Player's game. His short game and his bunker play, in particular are famously super. He is also known for his exceptional physical fitness, he continues to look after his body into his 10th decade. But despite his strength, he was never able to hit a particularly long ball. His objective was to keep the ball on the straight and narrow and to give himself a chance to use his array of golfing skills to score well and get the job done. He very often did just that.
In the early 1960s, he frequently used a 4-wood from the tee to play for position. He explained to Sports Illustrated during a 1963 interview that he was happy to sacrifice a little yardage to guarantee being on the fairway. Player wasn't worried about hitting a five-iron when others were hitting a six or seven, he still felt he was able to use his prowess with an iron club to get the ball close.
Also in that interview, Player commented on his hitting power compared to his rivals in the “big three,” Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer:
"You have to remember that I expect to be outdriven by Arnold and Jack, so it doesn't bother me. Arnold weighs 25 pounds more than I do and Jack 50 pounds more,” he said.
Arnold Palmer drove the ball around the 265-270 on average and Jack Nicklaus, slightly longer, could hit it around 10 yards more than that. By his own admission, Gary Player would have averaged a little less than those numbers.
But, the diminutive South African recognised that some tournaments required him to shift the ball a little further. Through determination, physical work and a sound technique, he found a way to eek out a few extra yards when the situation demanded it.
Player spoke of making a series of swing adjustments in an interview with Golf Digest in 1961. To have a chance at winning the Masters, he felt he needed more distance. His objective was to be able to reach the par-5s at Augusta in two. The South African lengthened his driver by half an inch, and changed his technique to make a more significant weight shift from right to left in order to gain, in his words, “up to 30 yards.”
It clearly worked, as Player won the Masters in 1961 and went on to claim two more titles at Augusta, in 1974 and 1978.
There are very few, if any stats available from when Gary Player was in his prime to give a definitive answer to the question of how far he drove the golf ball. What we can go on is the evidence that, by his own words, he wasn’t able to keep up with Jack and Arnie from the tee. We also know he would purposefully not take driver to make sure he found fairways. At the peak of his playing powers then, a fair estimate of his average driving distance would be something around the 250-260 yard mark.
The South African has maintained his fitness supremely well into old age and can still hit the ball over 200 yards from the tee at the age of 90. At Dundonald this summer, before The Open at Royal Troon, we saw Player at an event organised by golf equipment company PXG. Not only was he highly entertaining but he was also hugely impressive when he demonstrated his playing prowess on the driving range. Still with a strong turn, he hit driver after driver, dead straight towards (and beyond) the 200 yard marker, in the centre of the practice ground. It was quite a display. There can be few, if any, nonagenarians anywhere in the world who can drive a ball as far as Gary Player.
Fergus Bisset writes extensively about the history of the game. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here. The podcast series contains stories about many of the game's greatest, and most important characters and Gary Player receives more than one mention!
