Editing Gary Player (section)

==Views==
===Views on apartheid===
In 1966, Player espoused support for the [[apartheid]] policies of [[Hendrik Verwoerd]] in his book ''Grand Slam Golf'', stating: "I must say now, and clearly, that I am of the South Africa of Verwoerd and apartheid{{nbsp}}... a nation which{{nbsp}}... is the product of its instinct and ability to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the alien barbarians. The African may well believe in witchcraft and primitive magic, practise ritual murder and polygamy; his wealth is in cattle".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/942105/they-don-t-really-care-about-us |title=They don't really care about us |magazine=The Cricket Monthly |author=Vice, Telford |date=December 2015}}</ref> Activists publicly demonstrated against Player's espousal of apartheid, including protesting against Player at the [[1969 PGA Championship]]. Australian activists also strongly protested against Player. In 1971 there were several threats to protest against Player at tournaments though they never came to fruition.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110685433 |title=Trouble threat |date=4 November 1971 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |access-date=8 January 2020 |page=34}}</ref> Years later, in October 1974, Australian activists screamed at Player, "Go home, racist!", as he was lining up a putt on the 72nd hole in a tournament he had a chance to win.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NJFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=5274,5089494 |title=Ball again wins Masters |date=28 October 1974 |newspaper=Glasgow Herald |access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref>

However, in a 1987 interview with ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'', Player disavowed the system of apartheid, stating, "We have a terrible system in apartheid{{nbsp}}... it's almost a cancerous disease. I'm happy to say it's being eliminated. [...] We've got to get rid of this apartheid."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-24-sp-499-story.html |title=Gary Player Gives His Views on Apartheid |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=24 April 1987 |access-date=11 June 2018}}</ref> In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Player discussed his early support for apartheid stating that the South African Government had "pulled the wool over our eyes" and that the people were "brainwashed" into supporting these policies.<ref>{{cite web |last=Graham Bensinger |title=Gary Player: I helped break apartheid in sport |website=[[YouTube]] |date=9 August 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnl52rYo4sg&list=PLW5qT4HIAd1aVpFoLHLc4_PPuQFBc_p-Z&index=11&t=0s&app=desktop | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/Pnl52rYo4sg| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|access-date=29 May 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Views on golf===
In July 2007, Player made statements at [[the Open Championship]] golf tournament about the use of [[Doping in sport|performance-enhancing drugs]] in golf. He alleged that at least ten players were "taking something", citing [[human growth hormone]], [[steroids]] and [[creatine]] as possible substances. Both the [[PGA Tour]] and [[European Tour]] were in the process of introducing random testing programmes at the time.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slot |first=Owen |title=Carnoustie is rocked by doping allegations |newspaper=The Times |date=19 July 2007 |page=80 |via=The Times Digital Archive |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503690533/TTDA?u=bli_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=ccba01c2 |access-date=23 September 2020 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

In June 2016, in an interview with bunkered.co.uk, Player branded as "laughable" a report released by [[the R&A]] and [[USGA]] governing bodies which said that driving distance in golf was only increasing minimally. He warned of a "tsunami coming" due to the governing bodies' failure to address issues surrounding new golf technology.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/gary-player-brands-ra-report-laughable |title=Gary Player brands R&A report 'laughable' |date=9 June 2016 |magazine=bunkered |first=Martin |last=Inglis}}</ref> After the 2017 [[Alfred Dunhill Links Championship]], Player reiterated these comments, taking to messaging service Twitter to say he was sad to see the [[Old Course at St Andrews]] "brought to her knees" after [[Ross Fisher]] broke the course record on a day of very low scoring during the final round.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/gary-player-old-course-brought-to-her-knees |title=Gary Player: Old Course 'brought to her knees' |date=9 October 2017 |magazine=bunkered |first=Martin |last=Inglis}}</ref>