Gary Player won nine major championships over the course of his golf career, so he no doubt knows what it takes to get it done at the highest level. But his recent claim about being able to make Jordan Spieth one of the best players in history still rings a little bit outlandish.
He starts by praising Spieth to The Scotsman before going into what Spieth is doing wrong (kind of).
"He has a fault in his swing, and I would love to spend 30 minutes with him to straighten that out," Player told The Scotsman. "I've hit more balls -- 11.2 million -- than any man that has ever lived. I've also been around the best players in the world for 63 years, and I see this fault in his swing, and they are not finding it."
OK. Not even his swing coach Cameron McCormick?
"Oftentimes, what's projected on the TV or in newspapers, I'll use the term 'myopically reductive,'" McCormick told Golf Channel recentlyMcCormick told Golf Channel recently. "Meaning they look at it only one way and try and reduce it down to something as simple as, 'Alright, here's what's off in his swing.' It's never one thing; it's a combination of things. It could be carrying a burden of past history. It could be something that's going on in a player's life. Or it could be something technical that a player's having to work through."
Player sees it differently (and I think this is a backhanded compliment of sorts).
"He goes to a tournament a few weeks ago and says he doesn't know where the ball is going and loses the tournament by one shot," Player told The Scotsman. "This guy is so good around the green that if he can get rid of this fault in his swing, he might turn out to be the best player that ever lived. That is the possibility."
If only Player could get 30 minutes with him.
