Says he wants to show the world how to be healthy.
After watching The Golf Channel interview Mr. Player at Muirfield (Scotland) this morning, I decided to feature him in another post. At 5’6′” and 148 pounds, this golfing legend is the real deal—with a grand total of 165 victories in his illustrious career.
When I heard them talking about how he had recently posed news for ESPN Magazine, I knew immediately why the traffic to my earlier blog about Mr. Player was up sharply in the past week. People were “googling” to learn about what this remarkably fit and healthy senior citizen was eating—and Google was showing them my 2012 blog about Mr. Player.
Gary Player won his first British Open championship at Muirfield (this year’s venue) in 1959.
During the Masters Golf Tournament of 2012, I posted a blog about him. Entitled Gary Player at 76; plant-eating Masters Champion, I have provided a link below.
In the past fifteen months, that article has been seen about 700 times, with over 100 of the views has taken place in just the past few days. As for the article, here is an excerpt (See link below for full interview—and the NUDE photos.)
Why did you decide to pose? Very few people do what I’m doing at my age. I want to show the world how fit you can be at this age and not just accept being old. I still work on my ranch, I represent a lot of companies, I do golf course design, I’m traveling seven months a year. You’ve got to keep moving. If you sit and watch TV on your backside all day, you’re going to die.
Posing in the magazine is just part of my plan. My big dream now is to help people become healthy. Obesity, as far as I’m concerned, is the greatest problem facing the planet at the moment. What worries me is there is nothing worse than when you see children getting all of these diseases now. Look at our foods; our foods have steroids in them, antibiotics. People are overeating and eating all kinds of fatty foods and high sugars and junk. We have a massive challenge. It’s actually easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to get the average man to worry about diet and exercise.
A brief excerpt from my April 2012 blog post. As for his diet of mostly plants, I have no doubt that he would tell you that it has been a major factor in his success as a professional golfer. Just this week, I heard him say in an interview that strength conditioning among golfers has become much more popular in the last 15 years. “The next big thing will be improving what we eat,” he says.
The big three, with Gary looking a full generation younger than Arnie and Jack during the Masters week of 2012.
On his website, he lists The China Study as being one of his favorite books and he has become a great spokesman for the move toward a whole foods, plant-based diet. Not too hard to tell which one of the 2012 threesome is eating 4Leaf.
- Source article in ESPN Magazine. Underneath Gary Player’s Polo
- My 2012 Masters blog. Gary Player at 76; plant-eating Masters Champion
- Earlier blog. My article about the 2013 Masters, also featuring Gary Player.
Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com
- The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD
- Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
- An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
- Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.
Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com
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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.
Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.
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—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation
J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
Thanks for sharing this. Gary Player is looking great. I’ve been watching the open championship and wondering if there are any younger players who are openly plant-based. Miguel Angel Jimenez is a possibility. Unfortunately, that’s based on the large tobacco plant in his mouth.
Wow! Most 40-year olds don’t look that good. I liked the photos…good for him. Seeing is believing. Much better than looking at “almost” dressed fatsos who hang out all over and those with pants sagging below their cracks.
My hats off to Gary Player. Seeing his nude photo was a bravo, celebratory moment! Seeing a man at the age of 77, evidencing fitness, health, and pride in his plant based lifestyle is a brilliant statement! You know the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? His physique says it all. I admire his ‘putting it out there’ stance. I would love to see a calendar of men 70 plus, a twelve month display of committed plant based eaters, posing in the buff, with some body parts delicately shrouded with kale and other healthy greens! How about it? Any takers out there? We’ve had enough firemen and body builders posing with their often steroid induced muscles; let’s see the real, raw deal!
Love the idea .you could start a recruitment drive and the participants withe the resulting calendar could raise money for sustainable community horticulture ,ie vege gardens in neigbourhoods?
I don’t know, Jeane, it’s a pretty good-looking human body no matter the age.
Jane, a Missouri Teacher
I, too, am 77! And I go to the gym for weights and aerobics for the last 8 years. I face-booked to my daughter to get out her camera — and I’ll hold in my stomach like a Marine!
So, Jim — now for your writing a letter to Gary Player to enroll him in your gathering of WFPB power-supporters who can make a big difference in educating and motivating the shift to all-plant nutrition for all the good reasons.
Really, it is great that he is so healthy, but I certainly could have lived my whole life without seeing him nude.