Update: Gary Player

Fellow blogger Phil Capelle (Capelle on Golf) weighed in with an insightful comment on my previous post about Gary Player, whom he calls "one of the most underrated golfers of all time." He wrote in part:

He won nine [majors], as you said, but Player swears that he won 10 because he felt he was robbed of the 1969 PGA, which he lost by one shot due to hecklers in the crowd.

Player was the target of local protesters (remember, it was 1969!) who came to the Dayton, Ohio, tournament to object to, among other things, the hated apartheid government of Player's native South Africa. As legendary scribe Dan Jenkins recounted in his Sports Illustrated write-up:

What happened was, Gary Player got a rolled-up program thrown at him, a cup of ice tossed at him and a golf ball hurled out onto the green by a girl while he lined up a putt. Jack Nicklaus, meanwhile, had a big guy come out of the crowd and onto a green and start toward his ball, which in turn made Jack draw back the putter as if he were offering a new tip—always hold the club high when swinging at a demonstrator. And everybody went crazy for a moment or two with shouts of "Club 'em, kill the pigs," meaning the hecklers. It was not what anyone particularly wanted to have happen in a championship, of course, since Player and Nicklaus were at the time trying very hard to catch Raymond Floyd [the eventual champion].

Did this cost Player the championship? It's impossible to say for sure, of course. I'm of the mind that it's always very difficult to say that one thing would or would not have changed the outcome of a sporting event, because you just don't know what else might change as a result. Though I have no doubt Player feels it did. And it's clear from Jenkins's story that both players were rattled by the events:

"That was the toughest round I've ever played," Gary said after the experience with the hecklers. "I honestly thought I might get shot because of South Africa. It was unbelievably difficult to concentrate out there." Player said, loud and clear, "I'm no racist. I want everybody to understand that. I love all people—white, black, yellow."

The fact of the matter is, the disruption was very real to Player and Nicklaus, who are accustomed only to applause and adoration and who hear nothing while making a shot except their own breathing.

"My hands were quivering," said Jack. "I didn't know what the hell to think. I just wanted off the golf course, that's all. It took me a little longer to get off than I would have preferred," he smiled, referring to the triple-bogey 7 he made at the 18th Saturday, which eliminated him from serious contention.

The whole article is worth a read in Sports Illustrated's "The Vault," an amazing resource for those interested in sports history in general*. (And thanks, Phil, for the great comment!)

* The same issue of SI includes, among other things, an account of O.J. Simpson's first week as a pro, concluding that the heralded halfback "may indeed be worth $350,000" (for four years!).