Gary Player Claims His Son Is ‘Dear Friends’ With Lee Elder After Disrespectful Golf Ball Charade

Gary Player’s son, Wayne, was under fire for his behavior at The Masters earlier in the month.

The controversial moment occurred as Lee Elder, the first black man to ever compete in The Masters, was being introduced during a ceremonial first tee shot. Gary Player joined Elder, and had Wayne as his caddie. As Lee Elder was being showed on the camera, Wayne leaned in to the shot promote his golf ball.

Wayne has reportedly been banned for his antics.

Gary Player’s Son ‘Banned’ From The Masters And Augusta National After Promoting Golf Balls During Lee Elder’s Introductionhttps://t.co/JFqaVijxTK

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Gary Player spoke on the whole incident on Monday. Despite the original report, Player indicated that his son has not been reprimanded.

“I don’t think he did it with any malice,” Player said during an interview with WFAN. “He was basically telling his friends, ‘My father will play this ball.’ And I think his friends didn’t believe it because it’s not a ball on the market…Augusta has done a lot of things that a lot of people don’t like, as well, throughout history. That’s their course, it’s their tournament. And you’ve got to abide by their rules. And if you don’t, you’re going to be asked to leave. We’ll see what their verdict is in the end. Whatever happens, so be it.”

Player would go on to declare that his son is very close friends with Lee Elder.

“Lee Elder is a very dear friend of Wayne’s, a very dear friend,” Gary said. “He even phoned Lee Elder and Lee Elder said, ‘Don’t worry about it. My goodness me, I’ve always loved you and you’ve always loved me.’”

It’s a little bit hard for me to believe that Lee Elder is ‘dear friends’ with Player’s son (who’s 28-years younger than him) but maybe he is.

Nevertheless, Wayne Player trying to take away from Lee Elder’s moment at The Masters was an awful act, and I think any further punishment would be justifiable. We’ll see if any more news comes out of this situation.

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