Gary Player and Fuzzy Zoeller Gracefully Exit Masters

Gary Player and Fuzzy Zoeller played their last round in The Masters today and fondly reflected upon their great memories of the Augusta classic. As previous Masters champions, the senior golfers receive a lifetime exemption to play in the first golf major of the year. Many past champions return each year, even though they are no longer competitive at the professional level. They return to honor the tradition and to enjoy the spoils that come with being a past champion. Other past champions participating in this year’s Masters include Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, and Craig Stadler. Of course, there are a good number of past champions playing who are still quite competitive on the Champions Tour but don’t usually get the opportunity to play in one of golf’s major championships except under such an exemption they receive at the Masters.

For Gary Player, it was a classy ending to a remarkable Masters career. The 73-year-old South African competed in his 52nd Masters tournament – an unparalleled record by the most successful international golfer of all time. Winner of nine major championships, including three Masters titles, Player announced before this year’s tournament that this would be his last.

Following the round, Player told Mike Tirico of ESPN that he still plans on celbrating each spring by returning to Augusta and playing in the traditional Wednesday par 3 tournament and attend the Champions dinner. A class act, the “Black Knight” still stays very active and has designed over 250 golf courses worldwide. Player had a rough day in his final Masters round, shooting an 11-over-par 83. He knelt before the 18th green to thank the fans and was greeted with a standing ovation. He was also greeted by the cadre of South African golfers competing in The Masters. Defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman is from South African, as are two contenders near the top of today’s leaderboard – Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini.

Fuzzy Zoeller won The Masters in sudden death in 1979 and is only one of three golfers to ever win The Masters in his first entry. The other two were Horton Smith and Gene Sarazan. Zoeller also won the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot and added a Senior PGA Championship to his senior tour major resume.

His excellent record of 19 wins on the PGA Tour was overshadowed a bit by his racially insensitive comments made during the 1997 Masters in reference to Tiger Woods. Known as a jokester, Zoeller regrettably was thrust into the media spotlight over the incident. Fuzzy is also known to be quite accessible to fans, particularly children, often going out of his way to engage younger patrons at tournamens. Zoeller mentioned in an interview after his round that he will return each yaer to play in the par 3 tournament and honor the tradition of being a ‘showman’ for the fans.

Zoeller was brought to tears as he strolled towards the 18th green to a standing ovation. He embraced his daughter, who caddied for him at Augusta this year. Zoeller still plays a fairly active Champions Tour schedule and recently paired with Ben Crenshaw to win the Wendy’s Champion Skins Game.