In a jaw-dropping interview with The Golf Supply, the 89-year-old golf legend Gary Player went all out on the current state of golf instruction, calling out coaches, swing philosophies, and even rewriting the narratives on two of the game’s most iconic names: Jordan Spieth and the late Seve Ballesteros.
Let’s start with the headline grabber: “Jordan Spieth is the best golfer in the world… he just can’t hit the ball.”
Wait. What?
According to Player, Spieth — the three-time major winner who once ruled the golf world between 2015 and 2017 — isn’t suffering from a lack of talent or drive. Instead, Player says Spieth was “taught the wrong thing” and that his current struggles are a direct result of coaching, particularly under longtime instructor Cameron McCormick.
“That is a tragedy,” Player declared. Not a slump. Not a phase. A tragedy.
And he didn’t stop there. He tossed Rickie Fowler into the same category, claiming both were victims of flawed instruction that sent their games spiraling.
For Spieth, now ranked 51st in the world and missing out on both the BMW Championship and the Ryder Cup? This is a gut punch of a quote from one of the game’s living legends.
Gary Player on Ballesteros
If you thought that was interesting, wait until Player pivoted to Seve Ballesteros.
“He wasn’t even a 10-handicap when I first played with him.”
Let that sink in. The five-time major champ, one of the most electrifying shotmakers the game has ever seen, is getting the backhand of all backhands. Player insisted Seve had “no idea what he was doing” with the swing, yet simultaneously credited him with the greatest feel and short game of anyone he’d ever witnessed.
“He was all over the place off the tee,” Player said, reinforcing that natural talent can only go so far without real technical knowledge.
And then, in classic Gary Player fashion, he turned it all into a broader indictment of the modern coaching landscape: “There is a tremendous lack of knowledge with golf… They have all the equipment and the technology, but they are teaching golfers to do this at the top — and once you do that, you’re gone.”
So what’s the message here? It’s not just about Spieth or Seve. Player is making a sweeping statement about the soul of the game being hijacked by swing theories and TrackMan numbers. The firebrand South African — who won majors over three different decades — is basically telling today’s teachers: you’re doing it wrong, and you’re breaking the best players in the process.
Agree or disagree, it’s vintage Gary Player: bold, unfiltered, and impossible to ignore.
