Gary Player

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And he said he's sorry. “And he makes a mistake. “He has been the ideal man for a sponsor, for professional golf, for the public, the way he's handled the public, with dignity and with love.

Gary Player has backed embattled golfer Phil Mickelson in light of the American's links with a breakaway Saudi tour.

I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect from this.’ ‘And he makes a mistake, which every one of you in this room have made a damn mistake. But even the Lord God will forgive you of your inequities if you ask for forgiveness. It’s not right. It’s amazing. ‘The greatest PR man on the golf tour in the last five or X amount of years has been Phil Mickelson. He has been the ideal man for a sponsor, for professional golf, for the public, the way he’s handled the public, with dignity and with love.

When asked about Phil Mickelson at the Masters on Thursday, Gary Player said Mickelson "said terrible things, but we all make mistakes."

“My intent was never to hurt anyone and I’m so sorry to the people I have negatively impacted. “I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and many have been shared with the public,” Mickelson wrote in his statement. “And he makes a mistake, which every one of you in this room have made a damn mistake. Speaking to Shipnuck, Mickelson called his new partners “scary motherf———s,” and he also insisted PGA Tour media rights be redistributed more equitably to Tour members. And he made a mistake, and for everybody to be — I’ve heard him. The greatest PR man on the golf tour in the last five or X amount of years has been Phil Mickelson. He has been the ideal man for a sponsor, for professional golf, for the public, the way he’s handled the public, with dignity and with love.

Longtime honorary starters Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were joined this year by Tom Watson as they strolled through a gathering of Augusta National members, ...

What matters is after a patron-less Masters in the fall of 2020 and a limited gallery last spring, the first tee was surrounded once again to honor this tradition unlike any other. The men, with 11 Masters wins between them, did their duty—first Player, followed by Nicklaus and then Watson—striking their shots to begin the 2022 tournament in earnest. Other players who have been Honorary Starters include Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, Ken Venturi, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and Lee Elder. Watson is the latest to join these ranks, named as an honorary starter this past January.

Watson made his debut as part of the ceremony which has featured the likes of Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer who sadly died in 2016. Lee Elder joined ...

Nicklaus joked with the crowd as he teed up his ball. Player, a three-time winner of the event, is known as one of the best global ambassadors for the game. Tom Watson was part of the honorary starter's ceremony for The Masters on Thursday, joining Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player in the annual tradition.

The tee shot was Watson's first as an Honorary Starter alongside Player and Nicklaus as he was asked to join the duo starting this year. That group of golfers ...

He also pumped his drive past both Nicklaus and Player, much to the chagrin of the latter. It's the most normal a beginning to this event has felt in three years. The tee shot was Watson's first as an Honorary Starter alongside Player and Nicklaus as he was asked to join the duo starting this year.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Mist fell over Augusta National as Tom Watson joined Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as the newest honorary starter at the 86th Masters ...

Turning more serious, Watson said he isn’t in the same league as the other two honorary starters and pronounced himself “humbled” to be given the role. With Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds, he’s making his first official start in 18 months. AUGUSTA, Ga. – Mist fell over Augusta National as Tom Watson joined Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as the newest honorary starter at the 86th Masters Tournament.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — For the second straight year the Masters' Honorary Starters ceremony created a discussion beyond simply the opening tee shots.

Player was named an ambassador of Saudi Golf in April 2021. In 2021, Lee Elder was recognized on the first tee for breaking the tournament’s color barrier in 1975. Companies attaching themselves to Honorary Starters is not new; fellow starters Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were adorned with plenty of advertisers.

The 2022 Masters officially started Thursday morning, but not before the ceremonial opening tee shots were struck.

Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod hit the first ceremonial opening tee shots, and other legends of the game such as Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ken Venturi, Arnold Palmer and Lee Elder have taken part since. But before the action started, there was one last tradition to observe — the ceremonial opening tee shots. Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing.

Gary Player wore his iconic all-black jumper during the honorary starters' ceremony at The Masters with the Golf Saudi logo on his collar.

Golf's development with backing from Saudi Arabia has been one of the most controversial stories in the last 12 months. Gary Player wore his iconic all-black jumper with a Golf Saudi logo on the collar during the honorary starter's ceremony at The Masters. Gary Player wore his iconic all-black jumper during the honorary starters' ceremony at The Masters with the Golf Saudi logo on his collar.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hit the first tee shots at the 86th edition of the Masters Tournament.

“I was definitely the shortest,” Nicklaus would later say. “That a boy,” Watson said as Nicklaus’s drive flew off to the right. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. “May I say something?” he asked as if anyone would ever think of stopping him. “If I can do this without falling over,” he said. How to watch the Masters But where the drives flew was immaterial. “I’m not embarrassed to say that.” “Yes, success!” I don’t kind of belong in the same realm as these two players here,” Watson recalled. “I personally just felt lucky to be out there. The good Lord willing the creek don’t rise.”

Legendary golfer Gary Player has thrown his support behind Phil Mickelson while bizarrely wearing a Golf Saudi logo on his clothing in his role as an ...

"My intent was never to hurt anyone and I'm so sorry to the people I have negatively impacted. "The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level. Mickelson is a three-time winner at the Masters, having finally broken his duck in 2004 before going on to win it again in 2006 and 2010. In a lengthy statement announcing his break from the game, Mickelson wrote in February: "I used words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions. The reigning US PGA champion apologised for “reckless comments” where he referred to the Saudis as “scary mother*******” and “have a horrible record on human rights”. But Player, now 86, said: "I have a special thought on Phil Mickelson. I think we live in a time now when we are such a judgmental society, a litigious society, a critical society, where people get crucified. “And he makes a mistake, which every one of you in this room have made a damn mistake.

Gary Player believes Phil Mickelson is being unfairly treated for his controversial comments around the PGA Tour and the rival Saudi-backed golf tour.

Wouldn't surprise me if Tiger came back and won a major." He's a workaholic with his body, and he could come back. "And he makes a mistake, which every one of you in this room have made a damn mistake. "It's amazing. I said, 'Hold your head up high'. You've made a mistake. And he said he's sorry.