Gary Player has a girlfriend. He just turned 89 years old. Keeping himself in shape all these years has its purpose beyond breaking his age continually on the golf course or outdriving his best friend Jack Nicklaus at the Masters every year as honourary starters.
“It’s wonderful. Boy, it’s changed my life,” Player said Thursday as he prepares to play for the ninth time in the PNC Championship. “You’ve got to have love in your life. We’re all searching for it.”
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Still spry and quite fit—he works out four times a week and smacked his abs violently to prove what kind of shape he’s in—Player is the oldest competitor in the field at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, partnering with his 16-year-old grandson, Alexander Hall. But it’s the new partnership with New York native Susan Waterfall that he was only too happy to talk about. Well, when he wasn’t talking about how the golf ball goes too far.
A native of South Africa, Player lost his wife Vivienne in 2021 after 64 years of marriage. Friends have tried for more than a year to introduce Player to Waterfall, and the meeting finally happened a few months ago when Player was made an honorary member of Shell Bay Club in Miami. The way they hit it off is a cute story.
“I had people around the world trying to arrange for me to meet her. Never happened for a long time,” he said. “So when I did finally get to meet her, I thought she was wonderful. So I said to her, ‘I’m looking for an American girlfriend.’ She didn’t answer me. But two days later she came back to me and said, ‘I’d like to be your American girlfriend.’”
The nine-time major champion and one of only five men to win the career Grand Slam, Player calls his new friend “Susan Tsunami,” because she’s quite the dynamo. Which he appreciates. It’s the reason they keep fast company.
“It’s a miracle because she loves golf. That’s first off,” he said. “She loves gym work, she likes opera, she likes reading. She likes eating the proper foods. Everything I like, she likes. It’s just unbelievable.”
It sounds serious. But not too serious, mind you. “Well to get a girlfriend at 89 … I was ready to settle for 90, but now I’d like to get to 100,” Player said, laughing. “I mean, I’m not to marry, but it’s nice to have a companion, you know? It keeps you young. We’re darn lucky when we find it. You can’t live without love, and I just wish the whole world embraced that. This how much better off we’d all be.”
Main image: Gary Player hits a shot during the pro-am of the 2024 Senior Open Championship. Kenny Smith
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