Gary Player shares the most important advice he gives the young golfers when they approach him

“I have a genius of a friend. There have only been 15 players that won six majors or more. And to do that, you’ve got to be gifted with a thing called ‘it’. ‘It’ is something in sport, in business, in marriage, in love, whatever it may be, nobody can define it. It’s indefinable,” he said.

“But he’s a genius. And we continuously, every month, we try to determine what is ‘it’. Whether AI will ever get the answer, I don’t know. But it is something you can’t explain, but I tell young people, because young pros come to me for help, and I say, you can have all the swing thoughts, you can hit the ball a long way, you can be a great putter, if you don’t believe in yourself, you’ve got no chance. That is something that is it – an inner gift. You stand there and you believe you can do it.

“If you have a doubt, you’re not going to do it. If you’ve got a doubt, you’ve got to play for the middle of the green. If you really believe you can do it, sometimes it doesn’t come off. But I think that inner belief, you believe in yourself emphatically.”

The crucial attribute to Gary Player’s greatness

It will surprise few to hear that Player thinks that self-belief is crucial to a golfer’s success.

He has previously ranked himself as the third greatest golfer to have ever played the game, behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

And in an interview with Golf Digest last year, Player was asked about the quality that made him so good.

“I honestly believe whoever I played against that I could beat them,” he said. “You know, they never give me credit in America for my record. I won more national titles around the world than Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods together. I’m the only one who won the grand slam on both tours. I won 165 tournaments.”

You can understand Player’s perspective. Most professional players have the ability to hit an array of world-class shots. But having the ability to hit those shots down the stretch when in contention on a Sunday is another matter.

Anyone who has played the game knows how detrimental it is to have a negative thought just as you prepare to pull the trigger and hit a shot.

Player clearly thinks it makes a massive difference when you are able to remove all doubts on the golf course.