Today in History: Reliving the highlights from Gary Player’s first and only US Open triumph
Player was the first South African ever and first non-American-born golfer in 38 years to win the US Open.
The 65th US Open golfing tournament was a landmark event – it was the first time the tournament was played over four days, it was the first time a South African, in the person of Gary Player, won it, and it was the first US Open televised in colour.
Player turned professional at the age of 17 and won his first PGA Tour event, the Kentucky Derby Open, in 1958 at the age of 22.
He won his first major championship at the 1959 Open Championship, becoming the youngest-ever winner at the time, at the age of 23. He went on to win his first Masters Tournament only two years later, and then the PGA Championship the following year. This meant he only needed to win the US Open to complete golf’s career grand slam.
Player had a chance to achieve this in 1962, but a final round of missed chances left him five strokes out of a playoff with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. It was then that he said to the referee walking with his group, “I’m so disappointed not to win the US Open. Had I won, I had planned to give the prize money to charities. But let’s keep that a secret. One day I shall win, and I’ll turn back the prize money to good causes.”
Three years later, Gary Player had the opportunity to redeem himself at the 1965 US Open at the Bellerive Country Club.
He trailed his eventual playoff opponent, Australian Kel Nagle, by two shots after the first round, but managed to take the lead after the second, owing to a three-over-par 73 from Nagle while Player carded a level-par 70. He extended this lead to two shots after the third round, and managed to create a three-shot advantage over Nagle heading into the 16th hole in the final round.
Player double-bogeyed the 16th while Nagle birdied the 17th to level the scores, and after Player missed a putt on the 18th, Player and Nagle had to play an 18-hole play-off round on the Monday. Player dominated the play-off as Nagle struggled to repeat the golf he’d played over the previous four days. Player subsequently became the first foreign-born golfer since Scotland’s Tommy Armour in 1927 to win the US Open.
Staying true to his promise three years earlier, Player donated his winnings to charity following his victory. He gave $5 000 to cancer research in honour of his mother and returned $20 000 to the United States Golf Association to help develop junior golf.
You can relive some of the highlights from Player’s landmark victory here:
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