By Travis Puterbaugh, Curator
At the age of 38 in 1974, Gary Player turned in perhaps the finest year of his Hall of Fame career. Though Player already won six Major Championships and the career Grand Slam by 1965, he only captured two more Majors in the ensuing eight years. He finished outside the Top-10 in each of the Major Championships in 1973 – he sat out the Masters while recovering from kidney surgery, which would be the only trip to Augusta he’d miss between 1957 and 2009 – and as he crept closer to 40, it seemed reasonable to question if his 1972 PGA Championship win might be his last Major hurrah.
To that question, Player answered with a resounding, “No!”
Player flipped the script on 1973 and finished in the Top-10 in all four Major Championships, winning both the Masters and the Open Championship, and posting 10 worldwide wins.
Player became just the seventh golfer since World War II to win multiple Majors in the same year, joining Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Sam Snead and Jack Burke, Jr. As if that wasn’t enough, he even threw in a round of 59 for good measure while en route to a victory at the Brazil Open.
He kick-started his successful ‘74 campaign with a pair of victories on the South African Tour with wins in the Dunlop Masters and General Motors South African International. Coming into play at Augusta, Player felt confident he could not only compete, but also win his second Green Jacket. He entered play on Sunday just one stroke behind leader Dave Stockton at eight-under par after firing a third round 66. Player would take the lead on the 9th hole with a birdie, and in the signature moment of his victory, he hit a 9-iron on his second shot to less than a foot on the 17th for another birdie to take a two-stroke lead. He finished with a two-stroke victory and an overall score of 278, at the time the fifth best in the history of the Masters.
In his 20th consecutive Open Championship, Player would go wire-to-wire as the leader, allowing only a share of first place along the way with John Morgan at the end of the first round at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. In a thoroughly dominant performance – blemished only by a third-round 75 which still allowed him a three-stroke cushion – Player cruised to a four-stroke victory, with his birdie-birdie start in the final round, effectively putting the tournament out of reach. In his historic win, Player joined Harry Vardon as the only golfer to win an Open Championship in three different decades (1959, 1968 and 1974), a feat which may well never be matched again.
Player himself called 1974 the best year he ever had in golf.
Putting a cap on an already spectacular golf resume, Player joined the World Golf Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class on September 11, 1974.
He would make one last charge in 1978, adding a final Major to his resume – once again, the Masters. Combine those nine Majors with his nine Senior Majors, and Gary Player has become one of the most decorated golfers in the history of the sport.
