JOHANNESBURG – South African golfing legend Gary Player says he’s taken action to recover trophies and memorabilia that have been put up for auction by his son, Marc Player, who is also his former manager, according to EWN.com
“I would like to draw the public’s attention to the fact that several trophies and other pieces of memorabilia that form part of my legacy have been put up for auction by my son and ex-manager, Marc,” said Gary in a statement released on his social media platforms.
The 86-year-old pointed out that he had not authorized the sale of these items. “These items belong to me and I have taken action to recover them.”
A statement on the unauthorized sale of Gary Player trophies & memorabilia. pic.twitter.com/2tilBplJOL
— GARY PLAYER (@garyplayer) August 8, 2022
Player senior – who has won over 160 professional tournaments in his career is one of just five men in history to have won all four major championships – The Masters, US Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship.
He also has 24 PGA Tour titles to his credit and has won 19 times on the Champions Tour, adding three more titles on the European Senior Tour.
His son, Marc Player fired back in a statement on his social media platforms, calling his dad’s ownership claim “baseless”.
The statement released by his legal team on Tuesday indicates that several years ago, Marc cataloged almost 300 items from his father’s global golf career with Christie’s London – an online auction and private sales business.
“The entire Christie’s Gary Player Collection was subsequently sold to South African billionaire, Johann Rupert, when Marc Player’s father could not pay his outstanding personal tax bill of millions due to the South African Revenue Services,” the statement read.
Another one of Player’s sons, Wayne Player, was arrested over an incident involving a house rental at the 2018 Masters.
More recently, Wayne created a controversy at the 2021 Masters when he noticeably displayed a sleeve of OnCore golf balls while serving as his dad’s caddie during the Masters honorary starter ceremony, resulting in him being removed from the grounds and banned from the tournament.
?Gary Player’s son, Marc (being accused of putting his father’s trophies on the auction block), is not the same son who held up golf balls in a publicity stunt at Augusta – that was another son (Wayne).
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) August 8, 2022
