Golfer Gary Player: Biography and Career Facts • British Open: 1959, 1968, 1974 • PGA Championship: 1962, 1972 • Member, World Golf Hall of Fame • Recipient, South African Sportsman of the Century award • PGA Tour money leader, 1961 • Captain, International team, 2003, 2005, 2007 Presidents Cup Quote, Unquote: • Gary Player: "The harder you practice the luckier you get." • Gary Player: "I've studied golf for almost 50 years now and know a hell of a lot about nothing." continue reading below our video Profile of Jack Nicklaus Trivia: • Gary Player was the only golfer of the 20th Century to win a British Open title in three different decades. • Player holds the record for most times playing in The Masters . He played 52 Masters tournaments, the last in 2009. Gary Player Biography: Gary Player was the first "international" golfer to gain stardom.

By "international," we mean non-American and non-European, and we also mean world-traveler. Player, living up to one of his many monickers as "The International Ambassador of Golf," is estimated to have flown more than 15 million miles traversing the globe to play golf tournaments . While countryman Bobby Locke preceded him to the PGA Tour , South African Player was the first international star to build a long-term presence on the PGA Tour, while also playing around the world. Along the way, Player won tournaments in 27 consecutive years, and 163 tournaments total worldwide. Player turned pro in 1953 and joined the PGA Tour in 1957. His first major championship win came at the 1959 British Open , and he was the first non-American to win The Masters when he did so in 1961. The PGA Championship followed in 1962, and when Player won the 1965 U.S. Open he became, at the time, only the third winner of the career grand slam .

Throughout the 1960s, Player was part of golf's "Big Three," a group of superstars that also including Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer . The three were friendly rivals both on and off the course for the remainder of their careers, and into the 2010s were still playing the Masters Par-3 Contest together. They also served as honorary starters together at The Masters. The last of Player's nine wins in majors came at the 1978 Masters , where his final-round 64 propelled him from a 7-shot deficit to a 1-stroke victory. Player won the South African Open 13 times; the Australian Open seven times; and the World Match Play Championship five times. He continued winning after joining the Champions Tour in 1985, including six senior majors. Off the course, Player worked behind-the-scenes to improve the racial situation in his native South Africa, which for most of his life existed under the shroud of apartheid. He founded The Player Foundation to promote education among his country's underpriveleged, and the foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, which has educational facilities for more than 500 students.

Player is a breeder of racehorses and a designer of golf courses, with more than 200 courses around the world. He also has his own wine and apparel labels. Player was also a lifelong fitness buff and promoter of health and fitness initiatives, both inside and outside of golf. In the 2000-oughts, Player three times served as International team captain in the Presidents Cup . All three times the opposing captain was Nicklaus. Nicklaus and Team USA got the better of it twice, but at the 2003 Presidents Cup the captains agreed to call it a tie and share the cup - a first - as darkness fell on the final day with a tie score and a playoff in progress. Gary Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 as part of its first class. Gary Player - Golf Topics - ESPN Gary Player Later Years Gary Player is a South African golfer and one of the most successful international golfers in history. During a professional career that began in 1953, Player won nine major championships and nine events on the Champions Tour. Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Player is known as the "Black Knight," for his all-black golfing ensembles, or the "International Ambassador of Golf," thanks to his 15 million miles in travel, more than any other athlete. Player was the first non-American, non-European golfer to reach international fame. Player now owns several businesses, including Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate, Black Knight Enterprises and the Gary Player Stud Farm. He also owns and operates The Player Foundation, which aims to improve underprivileged education around the world. Gary Player was born Nov. 1, 1935, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the third of three children to his parents, Harry -- a captain in a gold mine -- and Muriel Player. His mother died of cancer when Player was only 8 years old. Player didn't begin playing golf until he was 14, but it didn't take long for him to pick up the sport. His father had taken out a loan to buy Player a set of clubs, and he played his first round at a course in Johannesburg -- parring the first three holes. Two years later, he avowed to his father that he would be the No. 1 golfer in the world.

Two years after that, he turned professional and began trying to make that claim a reality. He turned pro at 18 in 1953. He quickly began racking up wins in Africa and Europe, and four years later, he joined the PGA Tour. Gary Player began his professional career in Africa in the mid-1950s, winning his first South African Open in 1956. He had traveled to England briefly several years before, where he was told he did not have what it took to be a golfer. He responded by returning in 1956 and winning the Dunlop Masters at Sunningdale Country Club. One year later, in 1957, Player joined the PGA Tour. He won his first major championship only two years after joining the PGA when he took the 1959 British Open, becoming the youngest man to win that tournament. In 1961, he set another record when he became the first non-American to win the Masters. That year, Player topped the PGA money list for the first time. By then, Player was not only succeeding on the greens, but gaining more popularity off them.

His all-black golfing ensembles earned him the nickname "The Black Knight," and he became known for his impressive fitness routines and bulging muscles (from which another nickname, "Mr. Fitness," stemmed). He won a third major, the PGA Championship, in 1962, and in 1965, he won the U.S. Open in a playoff and earned a career Grand Slam before he turned 30. But Player was not content participating in only PGA events. He continued playing in South African Opens -- winning 13 in his career -- and Australian Opens (winning seven). In every year from 1955 to 1982, Player won at least one sanctioned international tournament. His constant travel -- he estimates he's spent three years of his life in airplanes and traveled more than 15 million miles -- leads many to believe that the "International Ambassador of Golf" has traveled more than any other athlete. Also significant about Player's popularity and success was his nationality. A South African, Player was the first non-American, non-European golfer to gain worldwide notoriety and a truly international following.

He represented his country at the World Cup 16 times, winning twice -- in 1965 and 1977. He also won the World Match Play Championship a record five times between 1965 and 1974. In all, Player won titles in the U.S., England, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, North Africa, West Africa, Canada, Japan, Latin America and Brazil (where, in 1974, he shot the only 59 ever in a national open). Player won a second PGA Championship in 1972, and two more Masters titles in 1974 and 1978. He became the first and only man to win Open Championships in three different decades when he added victories in 1968 and 1974 to his 1959 title. That 1978 Masters title was his final major victory on the PGA Tour, and he won it despite being seven back at the start of the final round. But, at age 42, Player birdied seven of the final 10 and won the tournament by one stroke.

Even after giving up most other PGA Tour events, Player participated in the Masters every year until 2009, playing for his record 52nd time. In 1998, at 62, he became the oldest golfer ever to make the cut. Champions Tour By the time Player joined the Seniors Tour in 1985, he already had recorded 21 victories on the PGA Tour (he would earn three more PGA titles while playing on the senior circuit). He went on to find great success on the Champions Tour as well, winning 19 events in 10 years -- nine of those being major titles. His first senior win came in 1985, when he won the Quadel Seniors Classic, and he would win his first senior major one year later, when he won the Senior PGA Championship for the first time. He went on to win the Senior PGA title two more times in the next four years, also winning a Players Championship and two U.S. Senior Opens in that time. Two of those -- a Senior PGA Championship and a U.S. Senior Open -- came in a five-win season in 1988.

In 2009, Player competed in the Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale Country Club -- 53 years after he earned his first European Tour victory at the same venue. Since his retirement from the PGA Tour, Gary Player has become known as one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game. He was one of the inaugural inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He also won the South African Sportsman of the Century award in 2000, and he earned a decoration for meritorious services and the gold Order of Ikhamanga for services to sport by the South African government. Now he focuses much of his attention on The Player Foundation, which helps improve underprivileged schools. The foundation established the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg in the 1980s, which created schools for more than 500 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. When celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008, the foundation had rasied more than $35 million. Player also owns Black Knight Enterprises, which handles Player's licensing, events and marketing, as well as wine, apparel, memorabilia and publishing efforts.

Player's oldest son, Marc, owns and operates Black Knight International, which represents Player in commercial activities. He also owns a well-respected real estate company and a stud farm that has become known for breeding high-quality thoroughbred race horses. Player also has become a renowned golf course architect in recent years. He has completed more than 300 projects in 35 countries on five continents. His company offers three design brands -- Gary Player Design, Player Design and Black Knight Design -- each of which places a different focus on appearance or environmental policies for courses. GARY PLAYER QUICK FACTS Gary Player won the US Open golf tournament and became the fourth winner to earn all four top | South African History Online South African History Online Music Releases You are here Home » Gary Player won the US Open golf tournament and became the fourth winner to earn all four top Gary Player won the US Open golf tournament and became the fourth winner to earn all four top Gary Player Monday, 21 June 1965 Gary Player won the US Open golf tournament and became the fourth winner to earn all four top-pro golf titles. Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American to achieve this feat. Player was born in Johannesburg in 1935.

While countryman Bobby Locke preceded him to the PGA Tour, South African Player was the first international star to build a long-term presence on the PGA Tour, while also playing around the world. Along the way, Player won tournaments in 27 consecutive years, and 163 tournaments total worldwide, he is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. His first major championship win came at the 1959 British Open, and he was the first non-American to win the Masters when he did so in 1961. The PGA Championship followed in 1962, and when Player won the U.S. Open in 1965 he became, at the time, only the third winner of the career grand slam and the fourth winner to earn all four top-pro golf titles. Off the course, Player worked behind-the-scenes to improve the racial situation in South Africa, which for most of his life existed under the shroud of apartheid. He founded The Player Foundation to promote education among his country's underprivileged, and the foundation built the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, which has educational facilities for more than 500 students.

References: History of the PGA Championship - PGA.com 2009: Hazeltine The PGA Championship was born in the mind of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker, who saw the merchandising possibilities in a professional golfers' organization. Wanamaker invited some prominent golfers and other leading industry representatives to a luncheon at the Taplow Club in New York City. On Jan. 17, 1916, a group of 35 individuals, including the legendary Walter Hagen, convened for an exploratory meeting, which resulted in the formation of The PGA of America. During the meeting, Wanamaker hinted the newly formed organization needed an annual all-professional tournament, and offered to put up $2,500 and various trophies and medals as part of the prize fund. Wanamaker believed that the Championship should be conducted similar to the British News of the World Tournament. That Championship, a 36-hole elimination match-play tournament, was the PGA Championship of Great Britain. Meanwhile, both the British Open and the U.S. Open were played at medal (stroke) play over 72 holes.

Wanamaker's offer was informally accepted, and seven months later, the first PGA Championship was played at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y. British-born professional Jim Barnes and Jock Hutchison, a native of St. Andrews, Scotland, played in the final match of the inaugural PGA Championship. Barnes emerged a 1-up victor. The PGA Championship was put on hold for two years because of World War I. It was resumed in 1919, at the Engineers Country Club in Roslyn, N.Y. Barnes was again the Champion, turning back Fred McLeod, 6 and 5. The following year, Hutchison avenged his defeat, becoming the last internationally born winner for a decade. He defeated Douglas Edgar, 1-up. With the "Roaring Twenties" in full stride, the next nine PGA Championships were won by three different players: Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Leo Diegel. Hagen went on to win five PGA Championships, making the finals six times and winning four Championships in a row between 1924-1927.

During the streak, "The Haig" won 22 consecutive matches before Leo Diegel captured the title in 1928. From Hagen to Sarazen At the age of 20, Sarazen became the youngest PGA Champion, beating Emmett French, 4 and 3, in the 1922 PGA Championship finals. The following year evolved into one of the most exciting finals in the history of the Championship, as Sarazen successfully defended his title by defeating Hagen on the 38th hole in the Championship's first extra-hole finale. Sarazen won the match by hitting a miraculous approach shot from the rough to within two feet of the hole. Nicknamed "The Squire," Sarazen owns one of the most remarkable records in PGA Championship history. He qualified for match play 28 times, participated in 82 matches and had 57 victories and 25 defeats. When the Championship switched from match play to stroke play, he competed in four more Championships before retiring after a 1972 appearance. Not only was he the youngest champion, he became the oldest participant (70) when he played in the 1972 PGA Championship.

Denny Shute won consecutive PGA Championships in 1936-37, a feat that lasted until Tiger Woods in 2000. Lord Byron and Hogan Dominate Byron Nelson, a loser in extra holes in 1939, bounced back one year later to begin one of the most amazing periods in golf history. Nelson won the 1940 PGA Championship with a 1-up victory over Sam Snead. In 1941, Nelson made it to the finals for a third straight time, falling to Vic Ghezzi in an extra-hole match. With the outbreak of World War II, the match-play field was reduced to 32 players. Even with the change, Snead called the 1942 PGA Championship, the first of seven major triumphs, his biggest thrill in golf. He defeated Jim Turnesa, 2 and 1, in the finale. Golf took a back seat to the War in 1943, and the PGA Championship was canceled. When the event resumed in 1944, underdog Bob Hamilton, 28, upset Byron Nelson, 1-up. Nelson had appeared in four finals and won only once.

The following year, Nelson defeated Sam Byrd in the finals, 4 and 3, while continuing one of sport's most remarkable winning streaks -- 11 consecutive tournament victories. The 1946 PGA Championship was Ben Hogan's first triumph in one of golf's four majors. Hogan then won a second Wanamaker Trophy in 1948, as he cruised past Mike Turnesa, 7 and 6, to become the first player since Sarazen in 1922 to win both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year. The 1950s was a challenging decade, with the passing of the Hagen, Sarazen, Snead and Hogan eras. After Snead's 1951 triumph, 19 different Champions were crowned from 1952-1970. From Match Play to Stroke Play With Lionel Hebert's 3-and-1 victory over Dow Finsterwald in 1957, a chapter in PGA Championship history was closed.

The stroke play era began in 1958 before a televised audience in the millions, with Finsterwald's final-round 67 earning him the PGA Championship at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pa. Jay Hebert's stunning triumph in the 1960 PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club marked the first time that American brothers had scored victories in the same major Championship. PGA Professional Jim Ferrier finished one stroke behind, making him the highest finisher of any club Professional in stroke-play history. Arnie's Missing Major In 1962, South African Gary Player became the fifth foreign-born player to win the PGA Championship, as his 278 edged Bob Goalby by one stroke at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his five titles in 1963, at the Dallas Athletic Club, overcoming 100-degree heat and third-round leader Bruce Crampton. In 1964, Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer both took a backseat to Bobby Nichols, who opened with a 64, and became the first wire-to-wire winner in the Championship's medal-play history.

Nichols' winning total of 271 remained a Championship record until 1994. Palmer also set a record with rounds of 68-68-69-69, making him the first player to post four rounds in the 60s in a major Championship. This seemed to set a disappointing pattern for Palmer in the Championship. Just like Snead's U.S. Open "jinx," Palmer is considered by most golf historians as one of the best players never to have won a PGA Championship. Along with his runner-up finish in 1964, he finished second in 1968 and 1970. In 1968, Julius Boros, then 48, survived sweltering Texas heat and a last-hole charge by Palmer to become the oldest Champion, at Pecan Valley Country Club in San Antonio. Nicklaus Leaves his Mark With his impressive victory in February 1971, at PGA National Golf Club (now BallenIsles Country Club) in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Nicklaus became the first professional to win the modern Grand Slam of golf for a second time.

It also was the start of a 13-year run in which Nicklaus would win four PGA Championships, finish runner- up twice and place nine times in the top four. Nicklaus' 1973 Championship victory gave him 14 major Championships, surpassing Bobby Jones' mark set 43 years earlier. Nicklaus tied Hagen for the most PGA Championships in 1980, winning his fifth crown at Oak Hill Country Club by a record seven-stroke margin. Nicklaus competed in 37 PGA Championships, finishing a record 14 times in the top five, while also posting the best record in the stroke-play portion of the PGA Championship. After the 1976 PGA Championship, PGA officials abandoned the 18-hole playoff format to become the first major Championship to implement a sudden-death playoff. It was quickly put to the test, with the next three Championships decided in extra holes. In 1977, Lanny Wadkins defeated Gene Littler on the third playoff hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links. A year later, John Mahaffey rallied from an eight-stroke deficit and defeated Jerry Pate and Tom Watson on the second extra hole at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.

In 1979 at Oakland Hills Country Club, Australian David Graham needed three extra holes to defeat Ben Crenshaw. A New Generation of Champions Bob Tway's final-hole bunker shot in 1986 at Inverness Club, to win the 1993 PGA Championship, signaled a new generations of Champions and special moments. Payne Stewart won his first major Championship in 1989 at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods, Ill. In 1991, rookie John Daly completed a storybook finish at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. Without the benefit of a practice round, Daly, the ninth alternate, didn't get into the Championship until Nick Price withdrew the night before. Daly went on to finish with a 276 total, in a performance that ranks as one of golf's greatest surprise triumphs. Nick Price returned in 1992 to win at Bellerive Country Club and carried his 1990s dominance with a resounding second PGA Championship title in 1994 at Southern Hills Country Club.

Valhalla Golf Club's first experience in hosting amajor championship came in 1996, and Mark Brooks birdied the 18th hole twice within 45 minutes to win a playoff over Kentuckian Kenny Perry. Davis Love III turned in a memorable performance at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck,N.Y., finishing with an 11-under-par 269, for the lowest winning total in any major Championship held at the legendary course. Vijay Singh, a native of Fiji, earned his first major title in 1998 at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Wash. Tiger Woods Ushers in a New Era In 1999, 23-year-old Tiger Woods became the fifth youngest winner in PGA Championship history, when he outlasted Spain's 19-year-old Sergio Garcia by one stroke at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club. Woods, already a winner of the U.S. Open and British Open during the summer, made the PGA Championship's return to Valhalla Golf Club in 2000 perhaps the most thrilling climax in major Championship history.

In the process, Woods became the first back-to-back PGA Champion since Denny Shute in 1936-37. Woods and journeyman Tour professional Bob May, whose glossy record Woods had emulated as a youth in the Southern California junior ranks, engaged in a stirring final-round duel. After each making 18th hole birdie putts, they entered the first three-hole aggregate score playoff in PGA Championship history. Woods birdied the 16th hole, then saved par on the final two holes to edge May by a stroke. Unheralded David Toms laid up for par on the 72nd hole in 2001 at The Atlanta Athletic Club, then made a 12-foot winning putt to defeat Phil Mickelson and post a 15-under-par 265, a major Championship record for 72 holes. Rich Beem's stunning back-nine charge to a 4-under-par 68 elevated him past Tiger Woods to the title in the 85th PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

The PGA Championship special moments' tradition continued with Shaun Micheel's 2003 final-hole near-hole out for birdie at Oak Hill Country Club. In 2004, Vijay Singh earned his second PGA Championship, outlasting Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco in a three-hole cumulative score playoff at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., the longest layout (7,536 yards) in major Championship history. In 2005 at steamy Baltusrol Golf Club, Phil Mickelson hit a flop shot from the deep rough on the 18th hole to within two feet and then tapped in for the winning birdie. Tiger Woods marked his return to Medinah Country Club in grand style in 2006, by capturing in methodical style his third PGA Championship and 12th career major Championship and came back in 2007 at Southern Hills Country Club, winning a fourth PGA Championship during the hottest recorded week of weather in PGA Championship history.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington overcame Garcia in 2008 at rugged Oakland Hills with a strong back-nine rally, including a birdie on the 17th hole and a memorable par-saving putt on 18 to become the first European-born Champion since Scotland's Tommy Armour in 1930. South Korea's Y.E.Yang stunned the golf world in 2009 at Hazeltine National Golf Club with a solid back-nine, including a chip-in for eagle on the 14th hole and closing birdie at 18 to chase down Tiger Woods and become the first Asian male player to win a major championship. LATEST VIDEOS The 64th Annual Senior PGA Championship / Course / History Aronimink Golf Club has been restored to Donald Ross' original vision By Joe Logan Last year, after he had a chance to play Aronimink Golf Club and see for himself the final results of a seven-year restoration project, Jay Sigel was succinct in his assessment of the changes to the classic Donald Ross layout. "Unbelievable," marveled Sigel.

Sigel, however, a member of Aronimink since 1966 and 10-time club champion, couldn't contain his enthusiasm. "It looks different, it feels different, it plays different," added Sigel who is also a two-time U.S. Amateur champion, nine-time Walker Cup member and seven-time winner on the Champions Tour since he turned professional in 1993. "It plays two shots harder, but I havent heard a complaint from a member yet. I think Aronimink finally realizes what it has, and it's ready to share it." Indeed, the club is. As host of the 2003 Senior PGA Championship (Aronimink's first major championship since the 1962 PGA Championship, won by Gary Player) the exclusive private club in Newtown Square on Philadelphias suburban Main Line will not only share its golf course, it will get the chance to show it off. The timing is perfect. "As far as Im concerned, it is one of Ross best golf courses," says architect Ron Prichard, a restoration specialist who oversaw the back to the future project at Aronimink that was completed in 2001.

Golf course critics agree. "I do think this project will bring a buzz back to Aronimink that hasnt been there for a while," says Superintendent News Editor Bradley Klein. This is their chance to be special again. There was a time not too many years ago when Aronimink, with its rolling terrain, treelined fairways and seemingly endless array of gentle doglegs and long, demanding par 4's across a generous 300 acres, was among the most revered courses in the country. As late as the mid-1980's, Golf Digest ranked Aronimink 49th on its list of top courses in America. Golfweek also included it among its Top 100. Ross, known for such master works as Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole, Oakland Hills and East Lake, layed out Aronimink in 1928 when he was 56 and at the height of his career. Ross knew the piece of real estate was choice, and he knew the 18 at Aronimink was good, but apparently not even he initially realized how good.

Near Aronimink's first tee, mounted on a large rock for all to see, there is a bronze plaque bearing a Ross quote in 1948. Only months away from death, he was visiting the golf course for the first time in 20 years: "I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize that I built better than I knew." To be sure, over the years, Ross original work was nipped and tucked by other architects. In the late 30's, no less than A.W. Tillinghast did some tinkering, although his changes are not well documented. In 1961, prior to the PGA Championship, Dick Wilson (Doral's Blue Monster) lengthened several holes and flashed the walls of a number of bunkers. After Aronimink hosted the 1977 U.S. Amateur at the course, George Fazio and his nephew Tom, Philadelphia area natives, also did considerable bunker work. But the biggest changes didnt come until the mid-80's.

Having been selected to host the 1993 PGA Championship, Aronimink got caught up in the times and succumbed to the popular temptation at the time to renovate, to modernize its course, to slather a fresh coat of paint on what was already arguably a masterpiece. MASSERIO HAS THE HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE Jay Sigel will not be the only player in the 2003 Senior PGA Championship with a home-field advantage. Also scheduled to compete is Aronimink's longtime head professional, Jim Masserio. Theres local knowledge but there are also distractions, says Masserio, who will no doubt be torn between his duties around the club and his desire to play well. Masserio, the 1965 U.S., Junior Amateur champion and one-time PGA Tour player, is no stranger to the PGA Senior. He has qualified for each of the four Seniors since he turned 50. His best finish was a tie for 17th in 2000. He missed the cut in both Seniors since then. This will be Masserios 13th major championship, beginning with the U.S.

Open at Merion in 1971. During tournament week, with The PGA of America in charge of the event, Masserio won't even have to worry about selling merchandise. He will, however, serve as a liaison between the players and the club committees. At this point it is hard for Masserio to predict whether his home-field advantage will help him or hurt him in the end. Obviously, he will know the golf course better than anybody else in the field, including Sigel. But he will also have friends, family, club members and duties to concern himself with. For some people, it works positively and for others, it works the opposite, says Masserio. Like Sigel,Masserio expects Aronimink to be a hit with the rest of the participants. Aronimink is a course that is right in front of you, he says. There are no silly holes or weird lies. The best players from the Champions Tour will be here, and after a couple of practice rounds, they will know it as well as I do.

Robert Trent Jones Sr., perhaps the most celebrated and influential designer of his time, even if he was well into his 80's, was handed the paint brush and told to toughen the course for the coming onslaught of the long-hitting, modern-day professionals. You can see the difference right away, says Jim Masserio, longtime head professional at Aronimink, who knows well the different design philosophies of Ross and Jones. Ross tended to take it easy on the golfer off the tee, offering generally wide-open, forgiving fairways. As anyone who saw the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, generally regarded as Ross masterpiece knows, the old Scotsman preferred to defend par around the green, with greenside bunkering, collection swales and crowned, slippery putting surfaces. By contrast, Jones, with his own respected design techniques, challenged the golfer from the tee. At Aronimink, on most of Ross wideopen fairways, Jones came along and added yawning, sprawling bunkers that often pinched the fairway and completely changed the character of the hole. Basically, Jones took away Position A off the tee, says Masserio.

Jones put bunkers right where youd want to put your tee shot. Said John Trickett, past president of Aronimink, echoing an oft-repeated analogy: It was like asking Salvador Dali to touch up a Rembrandt. Most of the outside golf world never got the chance to see Jones changes. In 1990, golf was rocked by the so-called Shoal Creek scandal, in which the PGA Championship was moved because the host club had discriminatory membership policies and no African-America members. At the time, Aronimink had African-Americans on its membership waiting list but none as members; rather than rush its admission procedure, the club opted to step aside as the host of the 1993 PGA Championship. Over the next decade, meanwhile, partly because of Jones changes and party because the club faded from the national picture, Aronimink began to fall in the rankings of golf publications. It slipped toward the bottom of Golfweeks Top 100 list, and for a time it dropped entirely out of Golf Digests Top 100. By 1994, with Jones changes still controversial within the club, change was in the air again.

Across the country, there was a newfound appreciation and reverence for the work of the old masters such as Ross. Aronimink decided it was time to reclaim its roots. Initially, the club contacted the Donald Ross Society, which in turn put it in touch with Prichard, a Philadelphia-area architect who has made a career of studying and restoring the work of the old masters, especially his beloved Ross. Prichard, knowing well Aronimink's heritage, jumped at the opportunity to restore yet another Ross course. Indeed, in his master plan for the course, Prichard reserves especially harsh criticism of Jones alterations of Ross' original course. The golf architect who carried out the process has repeatedly and astonishingly demonstrated that he fails to understand the brilliant classical qualities of design that were once the very soul of the Aronimink Golf Club, wrote Prichard. Now that the course has been restored to the original Ross vision, count Sigel as among those who appreciate what Aronimink is once again. They stuck to their guns with this restoration, he said. I would ask why a bunker is here or there and they would say, Because that is where Donald Ross had it. Nothing is tricked-up.

Everything you have to do is obvious from the tee, all right there in front of you. It is an extremely fair, difficult test where you reap what you sew. Joe Logan is the golf writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. GARY PLAYER CAPTURED 1962 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AT ARONIMINK Four-plus decades after 26-year-old South African Gary Player won the 1962 PGA Championship, 67-year-old Gary Player is looking forward to a triumphant return to Aronimink Golf Club for the 64th PGA Senior Championship next June. Player, who became the second foreign-born player to win the PGA Championship when he outlasted Bob Goalby by a stroke 41 years ago, remembers his first of two PGA Championships and his second of nine major victories as if it were yesterday. He also remembers Aronimink Golf Club with the affection of a grandfather greeting his first grandson. I have nothing but great, great memories of Aronimink and my first PGA Championship Trophy, says Player, one of only five players to win the career Grand Slam of all four majors and whose portfolio includes three Masters green jackets, three British Opens, two PGA titles, one U.S.

Open and three Senior PGA Championship titles. I was still reasonably young when I won the PGA Championship at Aronimink, but I remember what a challenging golf course it was and how demanding the greens were, recalls Player, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. It was so important to find the fairways off the tee that I remember hitting a four-wood on many of the holes. And it was a wooden wood back then, not a metal wood, or a titanium or graphite driver. Finding the fairways and the proper tiers of the greens were very important at Aronimink. That was my strategy, and it paid off. I remember having nightmares about putting some of those greens, but as they say, alls well that ends well. 1962 PGA Championship Top 10 Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pa.

Place Player, Gary Nov 01, 1935 Gary Player When speaking of Gary Player, it’s common for observers to say something along the lines of: “He’s done more with less than any golfer I’ve ever seen.” The less is Player’s improbable 5-7, 160 pounds, his unorthodox method and his hailing from a small country in a remote corner of the world. The more includes nine major championships, the modern Grand Slam, 165 tournament victories around the world-including 24 official PGA TOUR victories-and nine Champions Tour majors. Yet Player, in his forthright way, differs with a reductionist view of his career. “I had a great deal of talent,” he will say, before adding, “but talent alone will only take you so far.” “Golf is a puzzle without an answer. I've played the game for 40 years and I still haven't the slightest idea how to play.” No, with Player there has always been a palpable sense of something extra. Perhaps no golfer has ever craved victory so much for such a long time.

“What I have learned about myself,” he wrote in his 1991 autobiography, “is that I am an animal when it comes to achievement and wanting success. There is never enough success for me.” His peers, who included Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in their primes, knew it. “I don’t think Gary was a great driver of the golf ball,” said Nicklaus. “I don’t think he was a great iron player. He was a good putter, not a great putter. But when he really needed to be, he was a great driver, and a great iron player, and he made the putt when he needed to make it. Gary, as much as anyone I ever saw, has that thing inside him that champions have.” Gary Player was born Nov. 1, 1935, in Johannesburg, South Africa, the third of three children to Harry and Muriel Player. His father was a captain in a gold mine who spent most of his working life 12,000 feet underground. His mother was a well-educated woman who died of cancer when Gary was eight.

Player wrote that her loss “has been a means for me, as it were, to settle some unfathomable debt.” He chose to try to pay it back as a golfer, although he didn’t take up the game until he was 14. He turned professional in 1953 at age 18 and quickly won several times in Africa, Europe and Australia. In 1957, he came to America, and upon seeing how far the game’s best professionals hit the ball, intensified his exercise regimen, weakened his hooker’s grip and set about learning how to carry the ball farther. The next year he won the Kentucky Derby Open and was heartened by a second-place finish at the U.S. Open, where his idol, Ben Hogan, locked him with a stare and said, “Son, you are going to be a great player.” FACT Gary Player represented his native South Africa in 16 World Cups. From there, Player was off.

In his trademark all-black outfits (inspired by his lifelong love of westerns) with body trim and biceps bulging from a weight-lifting program and high-fiber diet that were both 30 years ahead of their time-and with a bunker game that is considered the greatest ever developed-he willed himself to victory. He won the 1959 British Open at Muirfield for his first major, made the 1961 Masters his second and the 1962 PGA at Aronimink his third. At the 1965 U.S. Open at Bellerive, Player defeated Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff to complete the modern Grand Slam by age 29. His other majors included the 1972 PGA Championship, the 1968 and 1974 British Opens, and the 1974 and 1978 Masters. The last is perhaps Player’s proudest victory. He began the final round seven strokes out of the lead. But at age 42, he birdied seven of the final 10 to shoot 64 and win by a stroke.

Player is indisputably the greatest international golfer of all time. He estimates he has spent more than three years of his life in airplanes and traveled some 15 million miles. In every year from 1955 to 1982, Player won at least one sanctioned international tournament, a 27-year streak. He won the World Match Play title five times, the Australian Open seven times and the South African Open 13 times. In winning the 1974 Brazilian Open, he shot the only 59 ever in a national open.

Question: What year did South African golfer Gary Player first win the PGA Championship?
Answer: 1962