Gary Player sues son, grandson over memorabilia dispute

Gary Player has sued his son and grandson, accusing them of selling his memorabilia against his wishes. As per a report in The Palm Beach Post, they have sold or tried to sell memorabilia including trophies and clubs, despite there being an agreement asking for the items to be given back to Player.

In May, Gary Player registered a complaint in Palm Beach County against his son, Marc Player. The nine-time Major champion then filed a lawsuit against his grandson, Damian Player, in November.

According to Gary Player’s attorney, Stuart Singer, it was after the years-long dispute between Gary Player and Marc about his collectibles, that he had to “reluctantly” file the lawsuit.

“Only with the greatest reluctance and after many years of trying to avoid this, did Gary have to enforce his rights in this way,” Singer said.

Player ended all business relationships with his son in 2019. The lawsuit also accuses Marc Player of not transferring social media accounts and the web domain name GaryPlayer.com to Gary Player.

Another lawsuit was filed against grandson Damian Player, who has been accused of soliciting buyers for multiple collectibles kept in the 19 lockers at a South Carolina storage facility. He has also been accused of selling or helping sell various Rolex watches to a person in Florida “for significant sums of money.”

As per the filing in courts, the 1965 US Open irons ($17,947), 1974 Master’s Tournament Trophy ($523,483), his South African Open Trophy ($48,841), and his 52nd Masters’ golf shoes( $1,171) were already sold against Gary Player’s wishes in 2021 auctions.

Marc Player's attorney, Darren Heitner, claims that the settlement agreement reached in 2021 is not valid as the trust owns the property rights and not Gary.

In August this year, Gary released a statement on Twitter asking his son to stop the unauthorized sale of his belongings.

“I would like to draw the public’s attention to the fact that several trophies and other pieces of memorabilia that form part of my legacy have been put up for auction by my son and ex-manager, Marc. These items belong to me and I have taken action to recover them. I have placed no items for sale—whether by auction or otherwise,” Gary's statement read.

Marc Player was his father's manager for two decades, but in 2019, Gary revoked the rights that he had assigned to his son.

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Gary Player career highlights

Gary Player had a glorious career

Gary Player is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. The South African native won nine Major championships on the PGA Tour. Gary also has nine Major championships on the Champions Tour. He was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Gary Player's first victory on the PGA Tour came in 1958 when he won the Kentucky Derby Open. He has won 24 PGA Tour titles over his career, including three Masters, three Open Championships, two PGA Championship, and a US Open. His first Masters came in 1961.

Apart from this, Gary Player has also won 22 Senior PGA titles, including nine senior Majors. Gary was recently seen in the PNC Championship with his grandson Jordan.