Gary Player Releases Statement After Son Puts Trophies Up For Auction

Gary Player has released a statement claiming that several trophies and pieces of memorabilia put up for auction by his son Marc belong to him, adding that he is taking action to get them back.

The 86-year-old legend, winner of nine Majors and one of only five to do the career Grand Slam, released the statement in response to the action of his son, who has also acted as his father’s manager, putting what Gary Player terms “part of my legacy” up for sale. Player maintains he has not placed any items up for sale, by auction or any other means.

This is not the first time Player’s sons have hit the headlines for the wrong reason. Earlier this year, Wayne Player revealed he has received a lifetime ban from the Masters after using last year’s honorary starters ceremony as an opportunity to advertise golf balls. With the cameras trained on Lee Elder, the first black golfer to play the Masters, Wayne Player held up a sleeve of golf balls in the background.

Elder, a four-time PGA Tour winner, wasn’t in good enough health to hit a shot with regular starters Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, but as the ceremony turned to him, Wayne Player appeared to take the chance to do a little guerilla marketing. Ironically, one of the people who took to social media to criticise his brother’s actions.

Wayne Player had been in trouble at Augusta before, having been arrested for fraud over an incident involving a house rental at the 2018 Masters. The charges were later dropped, but not before he has spent what he described as “five nights of hell” in a nearby cell.