Jordan Spieth is the best player in the world, Gary Player says.
But he was less glowing about his coaching.
“He was taught the wrong thing,” the nine-time major winner said.
“And he just went downhill.”
Appearing on a video released this week on The Golf Supply YouTube channel — which you can watch in full here — Player had been talking about players bowing their wrists in the backswing, which troubled him. Once used, he said, “you’re gone.”
Coaching, he said, is the problem.
“You know, there’s a tremendous lack of knowledge with golf,” Player said in the video. “I would say in America today, the golf pros that are teaching know less about golf. They’re way less — and they got all the equipment, the technology.
“But I see them teaching golfers — they’re teaching golfers to do this [bowed wrist] at the top.”
Player named other golfers — “When’s the last you’ve heard of Dustin Johnson?” — but he focused on Spieth in the video. He said he was a competitor. He said he was “such a wonderful man.” He complimented his short game and course management.
He also wondered where Spieth would be if Ben Hogan would have been his coach.
“But man, he just can’t hit the ball,” Player said in the video. “You know, that’s a tragedy.”
In looking at results, Spieth won 11 times on the PGA Tour from the 2013 John Deere Classic through the 2017 Open Championship, then not again until the 2021 Valero Texas Open. This season, after undergoing surgery on his left wrist a year ago, Spieth posted eight top 25s in 19 starts.
In the video, Player also named the player who he believed knew the least about the golf swing.
Seve Ballesteros, a five-time major winner.
“I played with him at Troon as a young man,” Player said in the video. “He wasn’t even a 10 handicap. Wasn’t a 10 handicap. He had no idea what he was doing. No idea. But he had the greatest feel of any man that ever lived. He was so good from 50 yards in; he was as good as anybody that ever lived. I don’t know who the best is, but he was as good as anybody. But hitting fairways, all over the place.
“If you don’t have the knowledge, you’re limited. You’re very limited.”
Editor’s note: To watch the entire video with Player, please click here.
Editor’s note two: To reach more about wrist position in the swing, please click here.
