Speaking to Golf Monthly ahead of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon, nine-time Open champion Gary Player talked candidly about Rory and Bryson, the test of Troon and the unrealistic sums of cash being handed out to the top players today.
Player, a three-time Open champion feels sorry for McIlroy enduring a 10-year Major drought that so nearly ended in the recent US Open.
“I have felt so sorry for Rory, what’s happened to him in the last x number of years. I’m a big Rory fan,” he said.
“And Rory is not winning the Majors like he should be doing. I think it would be a blessing after what happened in the US Open, because Rory had it in the palm of his hand, if he could come along and win this week. I’m pulling for Rory.”
But that’s not to say that Player wasn’t delighted to see Bryson win at Pinehurst. The South African thinks the American is great for the game.
"On the other hand, DeChambeau – he is an enlightening character,” said Player. “He’s brought back a little of what’s important, to realise that the pro golfer is not the important part. The important part is the amateur.”
Always willing to give his opinions, Player has strong views on the amounts of money that LIV Golf has been dishing out to attract players to the breakaway circuit. Speaking to GM at an event organised by equipment manufacturer PXG, he cited the sum reported to have gone to Jon Rahm as an example.
“Nobody’s worth $540 million,” he said. “I’m pro people making a great deal of money but $540 million, I don’t think anybody’s worth that. They’d give Tiger Woods a billion. But there is a cap somewhere where it just becomes too much.”
Continuing to speak frankly, Player was direct when it came to describing the challenge the players are facing at Royal Troon this week.
In his opinion, the course delivers a test that is very much a case of “a game of two halves.”
“Troon’s front nine is the easiest of any Open Championship course,” he said. “You must be out in 31 or 32. But the back nine is maybe the hardest of any back nine in the championship.”
Player, who is just weeks away from his 90th birthday, is clear when it comes to the position of The Open Championship within the pantheon of great golfing events. He is prepared to argue with anyone, particularly an American who may disagree.
“The Open is the greatest championship in the world by a mile. There’s no championship that can compare,” he said.
“Americans might think Masters or US Open are the best but many of them don’t travel and are naïve, you can’t blame them. But no, there’s no comparison, the Open stands alone.”
Player is here at Troon for his 70th Open Championship, either as a competitor or an attendee. It’s an incredible record but the evergreen South African is no stranger to them.
One stat that must surely be a record is that the 89-year-old is currently on a streak of 3,131 rounds in which he has beaten his age. At the age of 87, he fired a 65, beating his age by 22 shots – It must also surely be a record.
The Black Knight, a fitness guru, believes he will live to be 100 and aims to continue to keep on beating his age. Few would bet against it.
