I have forgotten the year, but Gary Player was still contending. I always started my day at the #1 green – it is still one of my favorite holes. It doesn’t look particularly scary, but it always plays as one of the toughest holes – allowing few pars and even fewer birdies.
I was standing at the rope just down from the green, on the right. Suddenly, Gary Player’s ball is less than a foot from my toes. It did not require moving the rope, so I didn’t have to move, either. Player came to address his ball and was taking quite a long time. I was thinking that he really needed to strike his ball because I was having a really hard time, unable to breathe.
Apparently, I did breathe because he looked up at me with steely eyes and said “PLEASE!”. Well, I was mortified and struck dumb.
Early afternoon, we were usually at the 14th green, as it is another “Gotcha” hole – the only green without a bunker. Our usual spot, sitting on the grass behind the green, was not available yet, so once again I was standing at the rope on the side of the green. Suddenly, a ball was about a foot from my toes. I looked at the traveling score board to see that Gary Player had just hit is second shot. My immediate thought was please don’t be his ball! But, of course it was. He walked over to his ball, looked up and said, “Oh. You!”. I was horrified, but vowed not to breathe. I am sure the people around us wondered what that was all about…but I remained mute.
Good Skraps 