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AUGUSTA, Georgia: South African legend Gary Player
will equal a record here Thursday with his 50th Masters start,
matching Arnold Palmer’s all-time mark even as one of his own
Masters records is challenged.
The 71-year-old icon won three
Masters titles, including the first by a non-US golfer in 1961 as
well as in 1974 and 1978, and nine major crowns overall, including
three British Opens, a US Open and two PGA Championships.
No one has played more tournament
holes at Augusta National Golf Club than Player, whose 30 cuts made
rank behind only six-time winner Jack Nicklaus. Palmer made the
36-hole cut in only half his starts.
“If there is a golf course in
heaven, I hope it’s like Augusta National. But I’m in no hurry
to tee off,” Player has fondly said after past year’s trips down
Magnolia Lane.
Player made a Masters record 23
consecutive cuts from 1959 to 1982 but that mark could be matched
this year by US veteran Fred Couples, who has not missed a Masters
cut since his 1983 debut although a back injury kept him out in
1994.
Couples, 47, won his only major
title at the Masters in 1992 and played alongside eventual winner
Phil Mickelson in last year’s final group before settling for a
share of third, his best Masters finish since second in 1998.
Palmer, who played his final
Masters in 2004, said he is not interested in using his past
champion’s exemption to make one more march around Augusta to stay
ahead of Player.
World No. 1 Tiger Woods, a
13-time major champion, could only marvel at how great Player’s
legend would be today had the prime of his career come in a modern
era of private airplanes.
“Remarkable. He was the first
real global player. He played everywhere,” Woods said. “It’s
hard to imagine. Ernie does it now. He has his own [plane]. Jack and
Arnold, they said flying privately has prolonged their career.
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