Now you see so many players have won three tournaments, but not the
fourth. Tom Watson hasn't won the fourth. Sam Snead never won the fourth.
Lee Trevino never won the fourth. Arnold Palmer never won the fourth. And
so, to win the fourth, that's the pressure.
PT: How did you cope with that pressure?
GP: Well, when I went to St. Louis that year where the U.S. Open
was being played, every day I went in to a church that was there and I
prayed for great patience and courage. And I used to go down to the score
board that listed the names of the champions through the years--1965 was
vacant. I'd stand there for a few minutes everyday and I meditated. I saw
my name up there. Gary Player, 1965, Open Champion. It was almost a
self-hypnosis.
PT: I understand you read Norman Vincent Peale as a young man. Have
there been other books since then that have influenced you?
GP: Well, there was PsychoCybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, one of the
original self-help texts that defined the body-mind connection.
And Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. He's basically turned out to be
a saint. To be in jail 27 years and come out and have no hatred or
revenge, now there's a special trait. Most people who go to jail for 27
years, or who suffer under a system the way he suffered, there's hate in
their heart. Now that is a special human being. I've been in his company
a few times and questioned him, and seen the example of the years.
PT: We've talked a, lot about mental fitness. But what about the
physical? You were one of the pioneers in exercise.
GP: Yes, I was. When I first started out in 1953, there was a man
called Frank Stranahan, of Champion Sparkplugs. He and I used to exercise
and use the weights. They always said we'd never play golf a long time,
we'd be muscle-bound and all tight. And we're both two of the fittest
guys around. He's 70 and I'm 63.
If I look back at myself, I wasn't big like an Arnold Palmer and a
Jack Nicklaus and strong like some of these great champions, but I had
tremendous energy, which I got through exercise, and I've got fitness. I
wasn't as big as they were, but I was fitter than they were.
And exercising is a great discipline-builder. To go home when
you've had a hard day, or a tiring day, and exercise, boy that is great,
great discipline. And of course that helps you to attain the other: the
mind and the patience as well.
PT: What do you do to keep fit? I know you do pushups.
GP: I do a lot of sit-ups to keep the stomach strong. Because
that's what keeps your body together, your stomach.
Americans, white South Africans and the British are probably the
worst eaters in the world. We have the best food in the world, an
abundance of all the good things. But yet we're the worst eaters. And
where does a person get fat? Not here. Not here. Here, the stomach. It's
the first place it goes on a human being's body
PT: So what is your diet?
GP: Oh, I try and avoid the saturated fats and refined sugars. The
secret is to eat more fruit and more vegetables and more roughage. And I
take a lot of vitamins. But the big thing is I try not to eat much. Try
and keep lean and mean.
PT: It's a holistic approach.
GP: It is. I want people to be successful with their whole life.
With their families, their bodies. To be happy and have energy. That's my
big ambition in life. When I'm finished with my career I want to be more
of an influence on people's lives than a champion who's won 163
tournaments.
PT: The one thing we haven't talked about is family How do they fit
into your equation for a successful life?
GP: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and myself, we were known as the
Big Three. But, to me the Big Three are our incredible wives. They're one
of the very significant reasons we were successful.
PT: What are the special qualities these wives possess?
GP: Well, never nagging and complaining about our leaving to go on
tour, not being selfish, not being demanding, and dedicating themselves
to our lives, to see that we did well, which in turn they benefited from.
And the family did. The old-fashioned way.
Love is still the secret. The most important word in your life, in
the English dictionary, in any dictionary, is "love." When you get that
from your wife, your family, from grandchildren, it's a great booster.
You don't need any steroids. You don't need all this stuff that people
take.
PT: At what point will you feel that you have set enough records,
and you've achieved enough? Can you conceive of retiring from
golf?
GP: Yes, and how do I know when that time comes? Because I'm an
animal. I'm an animal with great desire and great ambition. I would not
like to be out on the tour if I couldn't win. No, I know when to
stop.
PT: But that won't have anything to do with a chronological age,
will it?
GP: No, it won't. At 63, my income is better today than it was in
my prime. Because of the Senior Tour. The Senior Tour has played more of
a role than any sports event in the history of the world in saying you're
not getting old when you get to age 50.
You know, in Africa, many people don't know how old they are. Have
no idea. They go by how they feel. When they get too tired, they say `I
can't go anymore.' But they don't ever say they're too old.
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