Gary Player Shares Advice He Ignored From Arnold Palmer Early in His Career

Turning 90 on Nov. 1, the nine-time major winner feels he has the body of a 60-year-old.

Gary Player is nearing 90 years old and can still drive a golf ball over 200 yards. / Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images

Nearing 90 years old, Gary Player is still going strong. 

The South African, who has more professional titles than any golfer in history, believes he is in the “body is a man of, I’d say 60,” he recently told the Palm Beach Post. 

The nine-time major champion can still drive the ball 240 yards, 30 yards shorter than his prime, as he follows a strict exercise regimen of playing golf, lifting weights and swimming. 

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Early in his career, though, he took weight training very seriously at a time when it was frowned upon. 

“In 1953, when I started it, I was condemned,” Player said. “Arnold Palmer, my brother, said, ‘Gary, you can’t do this weight training.’ Bobby Jones said ‘Gary, you can’t do all this weight training. You’re going to get muscle-bound. You won’t win tournaments after 35.’

All these years later, what does Player think about that advice?

“Well,” he said with a laugh, “they’re all dead. And I’m still going.”

And Player doesn’t plan on stopping. 

“I don’t believe in retirement,” he said. “If you don’t use it, you lose it. But it’s easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to get people to exercise today, to look after their bodies. And I say, ‘Look, you don't have to go to weights like I do. Just get up and walk. That’s all. If you do that, you’ll stay fit.’”