Gary Player deserves a lot of credit for changing the shape of golf. With nine Major victories, 163 tournament wins and a lifetime of travelling the globe and promoting the game, the man is a national and global treasure. But by the same token, you can argue that Player has also helped change the shape of the professional golfer.
When the diminutive South African burst on to the scene in the late 1950s, golf was a game for all shapes and sizes. Tall, short, fat or slim – it didn’t really matter because, unlike the modern game that relies so heavily on raw power, back then distance and accuracy were still reasonably equal determinants of success.
Player, at just 5ft 7in tall and weighing less than 70kg, may have been…
