Gary Player once suggested which golfer he would pick to make a three-foot putt to save his life, while he also named several other contenders.

Of course, Gary Player holed his fair share of incredibly important putts down the years. Just one of the South African’s nine major wins came by a margin of more than two shots. He is one of six players to have completed the Career Grand Slam, achieving that feat one year before Jack Nicklaus.

And Player went on to win nine more majors on the senior tour.

So you would have to trust his judgement when it comes to picking someone to make a putt to save his life.

Who Gary Player once picked to make a three-foot putt to save his life

The 90-year-old made headlines last year when Player said that he would name himself as the third greatest golfer of all time, behind only Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

What made the comments all the more striking was Player’s claim that it was not even close between himself and everyone else for that third spot.

So perhaps it is no surprise that when asked by Golf Digest in the early 2000s whether he would pick himself or someone else for a short putt for his life, he did not shy away from the challenge.

“Well, when I was a young man I’d pick myself. If I had to pick someone now, I would pick Tiger Woods, Bobby Locke or Jack Nicklaus,” he said.

The remarkable career of Bobby Locke

Locke is one of those names that seems to rarely come up when the greatest of all time are discussed. The South African won The Open Championship four times.

He won more than 90 events worldwide, but saw his time playing in the United States cut short by a ban in 1949. While it was lifted two years later, Locke decided to not play a great deal in the country again.

A car crash in 1960 brought an end to his competitive career, though he would continue to play in The Open almost every year until 1978.

And putting was his greatest strength. As reported by BBC Sport in a 2024 article, Sam Snead once said: “He was the greatest putter I have ever seen. He’d hit a 20-footer, and before the ball got halfway, he’d be tipping his hat to the crowd. He wore out his hats tipping them.”

Two years after Locke’s final Open win, Player went on to lift the Claret Jug for the very first time.