Gary Player makes bold claim about his place in golf history

Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are widely considered the two greatest golfers to ever live, while the debate usually begins at No. 3. According to Gary Player, though, there shouldn't be a debate at all. 

Gary Player believes he's the third-best golfer of all time

"Jack is number one, Tiger number two, and I'm number three," Player told Tom D'Angelo of The Palm Beach Post. "There's not even a question."

Of course, ranking the best athletes of all time in a particular sport is an objective exercise based on the factors you value most. For Player, he believes it should be as simple as comparing resumes as a professional golfer.

"How I judge the best players of all time is I say, 'there's the record book,'" the South African said. "That's the only way. It's the record book that's on paper. And Nicklaus has got the best record. There's no question.

"When they judge players, it's quite interesting. They put Bobby Jones and Arnold (Palmer) ahead of me. You can't tell me that an amateur golfer has a record that I have in golf. His record is not close to mine. You look at Arnold's record, it's not close to mine. I won more majors than Arnold. I won more tournaments than Arnold. I won more senior majors. My stroke averages were better. He didn't have the record, and he was my brother."