PLAYER, GARY (JIM)

(b. Nov. 1, 1935, Johannesburg, S.Af.), South African who was one of the world's best professional golfers in the post-World War II era. He was the third man (after Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, both of the United States) to win the four tournaments composing the modern golf Grand Slam. In 1955 Player entered competition on the U.S. Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) circuit of tournaments, and in 1961 he was the leading winner of prize money on the circuit. His international record, unsurpassed by any golfer, was a tribute to his remarkable fitness and love of competition. He won the British Open (1959, 1968, 1974), the Masters (1961, 1974, 1978), the U.S. PGA (1962, 1972), and the U.S. Open (1965). He also won the South African Open 13 times, the Australian Open 7 times, and the World Series of Golf 3 times (1965, 1968, 1972). When he won the Masters in 1978, the span of his major championship victories covered three decades, longer than any previous golfer.