Player's outlook on fitness extends far beyond golf

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PALM COAST, Fla. -- Forget traveling around the world in 80 days. Last week, Gary Player trekked across the globe several times in just eight days.

A prominent architect once said Gary Player would quit golf by the age of 35. (Miller/WireImage)

He went from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Hawaii to West Palm Beach to Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Bangkok (for five hours) to Beijing to London to Morocco to Casablanca to Germany to West Palm Beach.

Whew.

With a travel schedule like that, it's a wonder that Player can even get up in the morning.

"It took me six days to get over it," he admitted. "I didn't know where the hell I was because there was such a mix-up of time changes."

But he is able to do it and he credits a high energy level and a lifelong commitment to fitness for giving him the ability to travel extensively and still be able to play golf. Player eats well, oftentimes skipping meals or eating small meals with low-fat foods, and maintains a strict exercise routine.

"All I had [on Tuesday night] was a handful of broccoli. I make a point of -- one day a week I try not to eat. I don't eat ice cream. I don't eat bacon. In the last 2 ˝ years, I've never had an ice cream or a piece of bacon. I don't drink milk. I don't eat white bread."

Player does indulge in a glass of wine, beer or whiskey on occasion and sometimes gives in to a chocolate craving. But he is adamant that young people should follow his advice and watch what they eat and how they treat their bodies.

"Obesity is America's biggest problem. Not America, it's the West," he said. "The West's biggest problem is obesity. More people die of obesity than all the wars put together."

Player and Jack Nicklaus used to vow that they would give up golf at age 35. In fact, one famous architect even said Player wouldn't even be able to play golf after turning 35 because he was so devoted to fitness.

"This guy saw me working out and he said, 'Gary Player will never -- of course, I was 20, my early 20s at the time -- Gary Player will never play golf after the age of 35.' He said you can't do weight training to the extent that he's doing," Player recalled.

At the time, Player was squatting and doing heavy weights, though the general perception was that he was absolutely crazy. Now, over 50 years later, he's a genius.

The other day he performed 1,200 sit-ups with an 80-pound weight on his chest. Player, golf's first fitness freak, also ran into one of the most famous exercising golfers in -- where else? -- the gym the other morning.

"Now I'm in Dubai the other day and Tiger Woods walks into the gym at 6:30 in the morning. He's playing at 1 p.m.," Player said, noting that his personal routine typically involved working out the night before a round instead of that morning.

"If the architect had seen him, he would have had a heart attack. If I said to somebody in those days, this is what Tiger Woods is doing during a tournament, they would say impossible."

But, partly because Player made fitness a priority, players like Woods and others are realizing just how vital it is for their games. Not only is it important for golf and sports, Player adds it might be one of the most important factors for living a long life.

"Even today at age 72, if you took a 40-year-old across America I'd beat 80 percent of 40-year-olds in a fitness contest," he said.

"...My dream now is to influence young people to look after their bodies, because obesity is one of the great epidemics of the world that we live in now," he explained. "Unless we find something that is a better cure than what we do today, in America, not to mention the world, there will be a hundred million Americans with diabetes in 50 years' time. That's a frightening stat."