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Gary Player, Gary Player, one South Africas most successful professional golfers, of all time. Sun City Gary Player Golf Course. Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Tournament 2009. Nedbank Golf Challenge 03 – 06 December 2009.
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Gary Player, Gary Player, one South Africas most successful professional golfers, of all time. Sun City Gary Player Golf Course. Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Tournament 2009. Nedbank Golf Challenge 03 – 06 December 2009.
Gary Player has spent seven decades proving that golf is as much about the people watching as the ones playing. And at 90, he showed that he hadn’t changed one bit.
During Wednesday’s Masters Par 3 Contest at Augusta National, he spotted a female fan from the tee box on the ninth hole and did something rare at one of sports’ most formal venues. He waved her inside the ropes. He signed her hat, posed for photos, and then leaned in for a kiss.
“I said, come here, good-looking chick, too. I gave her a kiss and everything,” he told Golf Channel afterward. “If you give love, you get love.”
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The Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club has incredibly strict rules for patrons. Given that the tournament is famously conservative and places a strong emphasis on traditional decorum and player etiquette, the current interaction seems somewhat unusual.
As Gary Player prepared to hit his tee shot on the ninth hole during Wednesday’s Masters Par 3 Contest, Player spotted a female fan and invited her inside the ropes and onto the tee box. He signed her hat and posed for some pictures.
“I said come here – good-looking chick, too.… pic.twitter.com/GCbybQOT0A
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) April 8, 2026
However, not only did he wave a female patron inside the ropes on nine, but he also picked up a young boy from beyond the gallery later and joked that they would play together when he was older. The crowd loved every second of it.
Previously, Player greeted an elderly patron named Barbara with a kiss on the cheek near the first tee during Masters week, a ritual so consistent that fans near the first tee would actually anticipate it. As an honorary starter alongside Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, he has always been the most expressive of the three, pointing into crowds, exchanging quick jokes, and making patrons feel seen in a venue that is otherwise tightly controlled.
The on-course moments matched the mood, too.
Gary Player, the all-time leader for hole-in-ones at the Par 3 Contest, rolled in a lengthy birdie putt that drew loud applause from the gallery. England’s Aaron Rai ultimately won the 2026 contest at 6-under 21, with four holes-in-one on the day from Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark, Keegan Bradley, and Tommy Fleetwood, the latter becoming the first player to record a hole-in-one in back-to-back Par 3 contests.
It all adds up to a portrait of someone who genuinely enjoys the occasion. Gary Player still plays golf four times a week, claims to have beaten his age more than 3,000 consecutive times, and works out daily, sometimes doing push-ups mid-flight on his private jet. At 90, the energy is real, and his relationship with the Masters? It speaks for itself as he shares one interesting story.
Gary Player’s Clubhouse story from 1965
Earlier on Wednesday, Player sat in Augusta National’s clubhouse and recalled a moment from 1965 when Nicklaus and Palmer voted him to face chairman Clifford Roberts over fairway grass length. Roberts shut him down instantly:
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Aug. 1, 2015 – Blaine, MN, U.S. – Lee Trevino (right) talked with Gary Player on the first tee during the Greats of Golf Challenge. JIM GEHRZ
“The mowers are set as low as they can go. Now, good morning.”
Player laughed retelling it, but the story says something real. The man who nervously walked into Roberts’ office at 29 is the same man waving fans inside the ropes at 90. Augusta has always made him feel something, nerves included, and that connection has never left.
He described the club with genuine reverence, crediting its association with Eisenhower and Bobby Jones as the foundation of its identity.
“This place is special. It’s evolved faster than any other major,” he said. “It’s a part of me, this tournament.”
Gary Player also talked about how upset he was when Augusta turned down his request to play a private round with three of his grandsons. But on Wednesday, standing in line for hours before the Par 3 Contest, he said he only wanted “peace” with the club. Well, it won’t be wrong to say some relationships are too deep for grudges.
Written by
Edited by
Deepali Verma