Gary Player Returns to Aronimink: A Champion Reflects on Sacred Ground

There are courses that host championships, and then there are courses that become inseparable from the champions who conquered them. Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, belongs to the latter category — and no figure looms larger in its storied history than Gary Player.

The Black Knight at Ninety

At 90 years old, Gary Player remains everything you'd expect and nothing you'd predict. The South African legend — owner of nine major championships spanning three different decades, one of only six men to complete the career Grand Slam — still possesses that famous intensity. His eyes still carry the same competitive fire that powered him to an astonishing 159 worldwide victories, more air miles than any golfer in history, and a legacy that transcends generations.

When Player speaks about Aronimink ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship, his words carry the weight of memory and the precision of someone who still remembers every crucial shot. "Winning the PGA Championship at Aronimink in 1962 remains one of the proudest moments of my career," he says, "because it confirmed to me that I could win major championships anywhere in the world."

The Donald Ross Test

What made Aronimink special for Player? The Donald Ross design demanded exactly what the diminutive South African had in abundance: discipline, precision, and strategic thinking. Player was never the longest player in any field — a fact he'll tell you with characteristic directness — but he understood that golf rewards more than raw power.

"The course very much rewards discipline, precision, and strategic thinking, and those qualities suited me very well," Player explains. "Aronimink required you to shape the golf ball and think your way around the course. I believed deeply in preparation and fitness to take me through all 72 holes."

That fitness obsession, of course, was revolutionary. Long before today's tour professionals employed nutritionists and personal trainers, Player was doing squats in airport terminals and refusing dessert at champions' dinners. He was a pioneer who understood that golf was an athletic endeavor requiring athletic dedication.

A Course Worthy of Championship Return

Player speaks of Aronimink with genuine affection, and a hint of advocacy. "Aronimink is an underestimated course and should be rated higher," he insists. "They deserve more credit."

He describes the property with the eye of someone who has played thousands of courses across six continents: the tree-lined original character, the natural beauty, the way the drive into the property evokes Augusta National. "I love the clubhouse and the drive in reminds me of Augusta, having great character," he notes.

The course has evolved since 1962 — there's more rough now, some changes to the routing — but the fundamental Ross genius remains. This is a course that asks questions of every shot, that rewards planning over impulse, that separates those who think from those who merely swing.

Philadelphia and a Champion's Bond

What resonates most in Player's reflections is the warmth he holds for the place and its people. "I remember the tremendous atmosphere — the members were so kind and still are to this day," he recalls. "I've become fond of Philadelphia back then and now. The PGA means so much to me."

That 1962 victory was the first of two PGA Championship titles for Player, and his third major overall at that point. It announced to the golf world that this compact, fiercely determined South African could win anywhere, on any surface, against any field. The PGA Championship was match play in those days — a format that perfectly suited Player's relentless, never-beaten mentality.

Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as part of the original class in 1974, Player represents something increasingly rare in professional golf: a direct link to the game's golden age, a living bridge between eras.

The Takeaway

When the 2026 PGA Championship arrives at Aronimink, today's competitors would do well to study what Gary Player understood sixty-four years ago. This is a course that rewards the prepared mind, the shaped shot, the patient strategy. Raw power will help, but it won't be enough.

And somewhere, watching with those same intense eyes, the Black Knight will be remembering a week in 1962 when a Donald Ross masterpiece confirmed what he already suspected: that will and preparation could conquer any course on Earth.