Player

AUGUSTA, Ga. Fifty-two years ago, Gary Player arrived at the Masters with less than $5,000 to his name but an unwavering confidence that he could beat anyone.

Arnold Palmer? Jack Nicklaus? Bring 'em on.

For one decade after another, Player teed it up with the greats of the game at Augusta National, watching the rise of Tiger Woods and hanging around long enough to see yet another wave of promising young golfers arrive on the scene, mere teens born long after the South African won the last of his three green jackets.

But no one lasts forever, not even a fitness buff such as Player. Instead of dropping to his knees to rip off some push-ups, the Man in Black announced Monday this will be his final Masters.

"I'm exercising profusely, but it's very difficult at 73 to build strength," Player said. "The golf course is so long. It is just so long. I mean, I'm hitting a wood to almost every single hole."

Even when his chances of winning had long since passed, Player reveled in more modest accomplishments such as making the cut, or outlasting contemporaries such as Palmer and Nicklaus.

And now, playing a course that grew while his game was shrinking, Player always took pride in being the link to another generation, strolling proudly through the Georgia pines, occasionally pulling off a shot that would cause the patrons to say, "Wow, look at ol' Gary, hanging with the kids."

Those shots were getting harder and harder to come by, however. He hasn't made the cut since 1998, when at age 62 he became the oldest player to reach the weekend at Augusta (a record eclipsed two years later by 63-year-old Tommy Aaron).

"I've managed to break 80 the last two years," Player said. "It's getting to a stage now where I don't know whether I can do that out here. It's so long and I'm getting weaker."

He did play long enough to set the mark for most Masters appearances, snapping a tie with Palmer by playing in his 51st last year.

No. 52 will be his last.

"There's a great saying that the Chinese have. They say, 'Everything shall pass.' And that's what we have got to realize," Player said.

"I've had such a wonderful career," he continued, getting on a roll. "My goodness, when I think of the career I've had. You can't have it all, and I did have it all. I've had it all. You can't be greedy."