By Brendan Porath
The 2021 Masters ended with the first Japanese player, Hideki Matsuyama, joining the exclusive club of green jacket winners, but it started with a son of one of its global champions potentially being banned from the grounds. It is still unclear whether Wayne Player, son of Gary Player, received a permanent ban for his crowbarred marketing attempt during the honorary starters ceremony. But Gary Player did address the controversy that erupted in an interview with Ann Liguori of WFAN.

The elder Player stated that Wayne’s actions were wrong and not “the most intelligent thing to do” but did not say that an outright barring from the premises had already occurred. It was a mistake, he said, but one he hoped people would move past because “everybody in the world makes mistakes,” even the club that wields the power to ban his son.

“Let me tell you, Augusta has done a lot of things that a lot of people don’t like, as well, throughout history,” he told Liguori. But the three-time Masters champion said he fully understands the potential implications of running afoul of the club’s rules or sensibilities and is ready to accept any punishment for his son.

“That’s their course,” he added. “It’s their tournament. And you’ve got to abide by their rules. And if you don’t, you’re going to be asked to leave. We’ll see what their verdict is in the end. Whatever happens, so be it.”

The issue stems from the conspicuous and unnatural posturing of a sleeve of golf balls by Wayne Player over the shoulder of Lee Elder, the first Black man to play the Masters in 1975 who was serving as an honorary starter for the first time in the tournament earlier this month. The sleeve was picked up by cameras covering the ceremony. Gary added that Wayne was close with Elder, and the two had talked since the controversy.

“Lee Elder is a very dear friend of Wayne’s, a very dear friend,” Gary said. “He even phoned Lee Elder and Lee Elder said, ‘Don’t worry about it. My goodness me, I’ve always loved you and you’ve always loved me.’”

It was a wide-ranging segment with Liguori. Player offered his routine citations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi in discussing his history of fighting for freedom and against discrimination in the sport, which he added he also suffered from. He was less clear on how the indiscriminate marketing attempt came together before the honorary starters ceremony.

“I don’t think he did it with any malice,” Player said. “He was basically telling his friends, ‘My father will play this ball.’ And I think his friends didn’t believe it because it’s not a ball on the market.”

Wayne may not be on the guest list anymore, which would be a penalty his father will agree to if it’s handed down. According to the World Golf Hall of Fame pitchman, he even suggested such a punishment during the initial uproar.

“It was wrong,” Player said. “And I said to Augusta, ‘Listen, a man’s got to take his punishment. If he does something wrong and you don’t want him back here again, then just bar him. That’s what you go to do.’ ”

The post Gary Player says son was ‘wrong’ for guerrilla marketing at Masters, but won’t say if he’s banned appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Wayne Player, son of golf legend Gary Player, was arrested in Columbia County on fraud charges involving a house he rented during the week of the 2018 Masters.

The 56-year-old Player, Gary’s third oldest out of six children, was charged with deposit account fraud/bad check last Wednesday. According to the Augusta Chronicle, Player had rented a residence in Evans, Georgia—about two miles from Augusta National—for two nights, April 3 and 4, during last year’s tournament. Player gave the Evans homeowner a check for $1,000 on April 4, but the homeowner told police the bank returned the check due to insufficient funds.

The homeowner’s lawyer made multiple attempts to contact Player, and at one point Player contacted the lawyer to say he’d settle the debt. However, the homeowner never received the $1,000.

Player and his company Wayne Player Enterprises LLC are additionally facing a civil suit claiming Player failed to deliver on a promotional package for the 2018 Masters. Todd Feltz says that he and his wife purchased a trip for $6,850 per person that included badges to the Masters and Par-3 Contest, dinner and drinks with Wayne, breakfast or lunch at the Founders Club on April 4 and 5, and a meet-and-greet with Gary Player and other Masters champions.

According to court documents, when Feltz met with Wayne, Player became “angry and intentionally made physical contact with (the plaintiff) by headbutting him and knocking him to the ground.” Felt asserts Player caused trouble and unnecessary expense, and acted in bad faith.

On February 13 last year, Player promoted a similar Masters event on Twitter related to his Player Amateur Tour. In response, a man named Jim Connealy tweeted, “BUYERS BEWARE. THIS TRIP AND ALL THE AMENITIES ARE A COMPLETE SHAM! THIS GUY DID NOT FOLLOW THROUGH ON ANYTHING. HUGE, HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT AND WE WERE NOT YHE ONLY GROUP THAT HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY! Please be very careful.” Player countered that it was a dishonest review.

Golf Digest received the following comment from Gary Player’s management:

“Mr. Player is currently in South Africa and unaware of this unfortunate situation with his son Wayne. His position has always been that Wayne is an independent businessman that does not represent the Gary Player Group nor Mr. Player personally. We do not know the details surrounding this matter and until we find out exactly what transpired, cannot comment with any authority.”

Golf Digest’s requests for comment from Wayne Player, along with Connealy, have not been returned as of posting. An email associated with Wayne on the Player Amateur Tour has been deactivated.

Gary Player won three green jackets in his career, and is one of only five men to win the career Grand Slam. Wayne attempted to follow in his father’s footsteps in professional golf and competed in 17 PGA Tour events, although never made a cut. He’s mostly recently been involved with various health and fitness endeavors.

Player has been released on bond.

Update: 2:27 p.m. ET—Golf Digest received the following statement from the Player Amateur Tour:

“In relation to the various allegations against Mr. Wayne Player and the subsequent media coverage, the Player Tour LLC today announced that Mr. Wayne Player resigned as the Tour Commissioner of the Player Amateur Tour the week following the Masters in April 2018. Wayne Player Enterprises LLC and it’s so called Masters Experience packages do not represent the Player Amateur Tour and were exclusively managed by Wayne Player himself. The Player Amateur Tour has no affiliation with Mr. Wayne Player whatsoever.”

The post Report: Gary Player’s son arrested for fraud; also facing civil suit from alleged 2018 Masters experience (Update) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.