Video Transcript
Alyx Dote:
Hi everybody. My name is Alyx Dote, and today I have the pleasure of introducing the most successful international golfer of all time, winner of 165 professional golf tournaments worldwide, and the only player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam on both the PGA TOUR and Senior Tour. Without further ado, I’m pleased to introduce Mr. Gary Player. Gary, hi! How are you?
Gary Player:
Alyx, nice to see you and all your viewers as well. Thank you.
Alyx Dote:
@JeroSkyJohn on Instagram wants to know, in your early career and throughout your Senior Tour career, would you have used irons with game improvement technology, if available, like PXG? If so, what are the advantages, in your mind, compared to irons that are less user friendly?
Gary Player:
I wish people could see the equipment that we played with. And as for, who might be the greatest golfer that ever lived, that was Bobby Jones. When you think he played with a shaft that was like a walking stick, no grooves, a golf ball that went 80 yards less than now, they never cut the greens with these beautiful mowers. They left the cup in the same place, all four days, the bunkers were raked with your feet. You are not allowed to knock down spike marks. Think about it. And you look at the scores that Bobby Jones did, was phenomenal. So a man I admire very, very much indeed. He was a well-spoken man. He dressed beautifully, and he behaved extremely well. So he was a tremendous asset to the golf course. What was the other part of the question?
Alyx Dote:
What are the advantages, in your mind, to using PXG’s technology versus what people used in the past?
Gary Player:
If you take the irons, or let’s take the woods, particularly woods with a persimmon head, when you hit it on the toe, it hooked more. When you hit it on the heel, it sliced more. I played this morning, and I hit several drives on the toe, went dead straight, several balls on the heel, dead straight. Massive improvement. With irons, the grooves that we have today, weren’t accepted when we played golf. They were considered illegal, but we’ve got over that boundary now and we’re accepting it. And so, the clubs are made with better weight distribution, far better weight distribution. The difference in our time for irons is a whole club length. That’s a lot, that’s almost ten yards per club. But technology has gone into it with a lighter shaft. We used to put grips on with an under listing, underneath. Now you just slide a little grip on, it’s much lighter. So you can have a lighter club, with a more advantaged head with weight distribution and metal distribution, which obviously compresses the ball better than any of the clubs we used to use. No comparison. Absolutely, that’s why you cannot make a comparison between, say a Jack Nicholas and a Tiger Woods. It’s ridiculous. They lived in different eras. And so how can you compare, when a man is using a Rolls Royce and another man’s using a carthorse? Can’t do it.
Alyx Dote:
That’s a good analogy. It makes sense to me. Okay. @ChristiCan on Twitter would like to know, what shaft do you play in your PXG GEN3 Irons?
Gary Player:
Christi, I use a very stiff shaft usually. Because Ben Hogan once said to me, said you do not want to use too whippy a shaft, because when you use a whippy shaft, the club, it gets to the ball too early, or the club, it gets too late. Whereas if you’ve got a stiffer shaft, it’s part of your body. It’s part of your arms. It’s more part of your body. So it gets it to the ball at the same time. There’s no flipping and being late, and your hands crossing over too much. So I’ve always said, I don’t believe in a very soft shaft. I think that’s very exaggerated. I take a soft shaft, I don’t hit it anywhere near as straight as I do with a stiffer shaft. It doesn’t matter if, which I don’t believe it is, but if you subconsciously feel, and that’s in your mind again, that you don’t hit a 7-iron as far with a stiff shaft, so what? Take a 6-iron!
Gary Player:
But there’s no comparison, in any of the equipment, that we use. The first time when I played in the British Open, they walked on the tee and said, “Here are your three balls for the week.” Now they give you three dozen every week. We had a ring on the side of our pants, and every dozen balls we got, we try to push through the ring. Some of them would go through the ring, at least one or two out of every dozen, in those days, never went through the ring, so you put it in your shag bag. So the ball is the most controversial part of golf today. They should cut the ball back 50 yards for the pros, leave everything as it is for the amateur. The amateur is the whole name of the game. They are the heart of the game. Pros are not that important, but the golf courses are becoming obsolete and we haven’t started yet. Guys in 40 years-time, will hit the ball 80 yards further than Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Rory McIlroy, they’ll hit it 80 yards further. We haven’t even touched or scraped the surface of this game yet. Incredible. And it’s a game for a lifetime. Isn’t it?
Alyx Dote:
And many more to come.
Gary Player:
For me, all of my friends are dead at 84, but it’s kept me alive, and very fit and strong. And I do a lot of business on the golf course. I love to do dinner talks. I love to play with people. I represent companies. I love to play with weekend golfers. I just love the game! What a game!
Alyx Dote:
And I can tell. It absolutely resonates in everything you say, conversation, everything. You said happiness is contagious, and when you talk about golf, I can definitely hear that. Okay. Next question. @AGonzo on Instagram wants to know, what went into your PXG Putter decision?
Gary Player:
What I look for, I look for a putter that’s a little upright, not too flat. Aoki from Japan, one of the best putters that ever lived, that his head very flat and had his hands down when he putted, the toe was up in the air. So there are many ways to putt. A putt is purely what you feel, confidence. Confident, oh that looks good to me. I like that. If you have confidence, you putt well. If you don’t have confidence, and you don’t believe you’re a good putter, you won’t do it.
Alyx Dote:
What are you most looking forward to when golf season returns?
Gary Player:
Playing with my friends. Playing with people I’ve never met before. Having breakfast with some guy at the club. Helping some old guys who’s struggling on the practice tee, to play well. Meeting a young guy with a great smile and who has great enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is one of the great instances of life. And to be able to be with people, and my friends, and play golf and travel around the world, like I usually do. And oh, I’ve missed golf terribly this last seven weeks. Luckily, I’ve kept myself very, very occupied. But, oh, I’ve enjoyed the last three days getting back to play.
Alyx Dote:
Wonderful. Gary, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us, and I look forward to getting to talk with you more soon.
Gary Player:
Great pleasure. My love to all your viewers.
Alyx Dote:
Thanks. Bye, Gary.
