Golfing legend Gary Player’s guest appearance on a broadcast Thursday led to a cringeworthy comment about a women’s tournament at Augusta National.
The 88-year-old Player visited the ESPN (UK) booth for the first-round broadcast of the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in Player’s native South Africa.
The topic turned to Augusta National’s recent move to admit LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam as a member. Player praised the club’s decision.
“To see Annika Sorenstam made a member of Augusta, they never allowed women, and now to see a woman be a member, I think it’s fantastic,” Player said. “She’s the best lady golfer in the world, or was — wonderful to see, isn’t it?”
If Player had stopped there, everything would have been great. Unfortunately, he was then asked if he also felt that way about the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which started in 2019.
“I don’t agree with you on that,” Player said, resulting in several seconds of awkward dead air.
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Player, a three-time Masters champion, has been openly critical of Augusta National recently. In an interview with The Times earlier this year, he criticized the club for making it very difficult for him to play a round of golf.
“After all I’ve contributed to the tournament and been an ambassador for them, I can’t go and have a practice round there with my three grandchildren without having to beg a member to play with us, and there’s always some excuse. It’s terribly, terribly sad,” Player told The Times.