Gary Player recently stated that he was the third best golfer after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in the all-time list. The veteran golfer also added that Woods could have been the greatest if he had made the right choices.
Player is a nine time major champion and is widely regarded as one of the greats of all time. Recently, he spoke about ranking the best players in golf history and had some interesting things to say.
“How I judge the best players of all time is I say, ‘there’s the record book,’ That’s the only way,” he said as per the Palm Beach Post. “It’s the record book that’s on paper. And Nicklaus has got the best record. There’s no question.”
“If Tiger Woods had made the right choices, he would have been the greatest player that ever lived. But the worst saying in athletics, in sports, is if. Because if is immaterial. It’s the bottom line.”
Tiger Woods has won 15 major championships in his career and is only behind Nicklaus’ 18. However, he has also won 82 titles on the PGA Tour and is the joint-highest alongside Sam Snead. On the other hand, Nicklaus clinched 73 titles on the Tour and is third on the all time tally.
The 89-year-old South African legend didn’t stop there and said that he didn’t agree with pundits putting Bobby Jones and Arnold Palmer ahead of himself.
“You can’t tell me that an amateur golfer has a record that I have in golf,” he continued. “His record is not close to mine. You look at Arnold’s record, it’s not close to mine. I won more majors than Arnold. I won more tournaments than Arnold. I won more senior majors. My stroke averages were better. He didn’t have the record, and he was my brother.”
“But I love the fact, in a way, that they do that, because what he did for golf, and I grew up with him, he was supreme. Jack is number one, Tiger number two, and I’m number three. There’s not even a question,” he added.
For the uninitiated, Player was the first non-American to complete a career Grand Slam, a feat matched by Rory McIlroy earlier this year.
Is Tiger Woods playing the Hero World Challenge?
Tiger Woods is not competing at the upcoming Hero World Challenge 2025, one of the two events that he hosts. The upcoming edition will be played from December 4 to 7 at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.
The complete field of the Hero World Challenge was announced on Wednesday, October 29, and Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel, and Akshay Bhatia became the three sponsor exemptions to complete the 20-player roster.
Here’s a look at the players committed to the Hero World Challenge:
- Scottie Scheffler (1)
- Sam Burns (22)
- Justin Thomas (5)
- Corey Conners (24)
- J.J. Spaun (7)
- Chris Gotterup (26)
- Robert MacIntyre (9)
- Wyndham Clark (27)
- Harris English (10)
- Brian Harman (28)
- Keegan Bradley (11)
- Andrew Novak (30)
- Justin Rose (12)
- Alex Noren (31)
- Sepp Straka (13)
- Akshay Bhatia (tournament invite)
- Hideki Matsuyama (16)
- Billy Horschel (tournament invite)
- Cameron Young (20)
- Jordan Spieth (tournament invite)