Gary Player To The R&A: "You are oblivious"

Bill Fields covered Gary Player's thoughts prior to his long overdue debut as an honorary starter. But there were many other highlights from today's rant about the state of the game prior to the Champions Dinner.

The highlight of his suggestion, uttered many times, but never quite this forcefully, in favor of different equipment rules for the manufacturers and everyday golfer.

Q.  Would you be for two different balls?

GARY PLAYER:  Two balls?  Definitely.  Look, I mentioned this, and the R&A, which I'm a very big fan of, said that you‑‑ they are the same game.

They are not the same game.  If you think they are the same game, bring an amateur to come and play against Tiger Woods, and you'll sure as hell see they are not the same game.  You are oblivious to the fact that it's not the same game.  It ain't the same game.

I will be the first to admit, the amateur is the heart of the game.  We are just a tiny piece of the game.  And you people should have all the technology and let the ball go 50 yards further now, even now, you'll hit the ball in the rough anyway; what's hell is the difference.  (Laughter).

So really, what does it really matter?  But for pros, if you don't, if you don't, and to make a rule that your driver has got to be 48 inches; what happens if you get a man that's seven foot tall, you tell him he's got to use a driver 48 inches, he's going to stand like this (indicating extremely hunched over).  Some of these things are going to have to be changed, and change is the price of survival.

But, well, if you want to make‑‑ if you are going to keep making them long.  You know, you can't go back on the streets anymore.  That is the maximum now.  You can't put the tees back on the streets and they are going to be hitting a driver and 8‑iron to No.2, a driver and 8‑iron.  So you're going to have to slow the ball down.

And look at the cost of making the ball go further.  That's the thing, the great cost that it's been.  What it's done to golf, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on changing golf courses.  And all you had to do was change the golf ball, and it was a mere 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, $40,000 whatever it takes, to change the ball.  So economically, it wasn't a viable situation.