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Vivienne Player, wife of Gary Player, dies after cancer battle

Sam Greenwood/PGA Tour photo

Vivienne Player, wife of Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player, died Wednesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The couple’s 64-year marriage produced six children, 22 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

“The unthinkable has happened. My wife of 64 years, my childhood sweetheart, my rock, and my soulmate Vivienne has lost her battle with pancreatic cancer,” Gary Player wrote on a Twitter post. “I cannot describe the deep sense of sadness I feel at having lost the one person who has always meant the world to me. …

“Vivienne taught me the value of love, faith and trust. She taught our children those same values, and they were blessed to have a mother who lived those values every single day. When we first me, I had no doubt it was love at first sight and it turned out to be a love story of a lifetime. I believe it will also be so when we are finally together again. Until then, I will miss my Viv dearly.”

Vivienne was diagnosed with cancer in June of 2020.

“Your whole life has got to be a honeymoon if you want it to be successful,” Gary recently told Golfweek contributor Averee Dovsek on her podcast, Why You Suck at Golf!, in mentioning Vivienne’s cancer battle. “Work at it. Love is the greatest word in the world.”

Gary, now 85, first proposed to Vivienne when he was 15 years old, and they married in 1957 in their native South Africa. Gary’s globe-trotting career went on to produce nine major championship titles among his 167 international victories, with 24 PGA Tour wins. Gary has spoke often about how his family sometimes traveled with children, and how Vivienne ran the family while he was away.

International team captain Gary Player talks with his wife, Viviene, as they watch foursomes matches at the 2005 Presidents Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

“She is the best wife that any man could ever wish for,” he told Tennis World in 2020 after her diagnosis. “You know, no other woman would have stayed with me. I spent more time on airplanes than anyone in this planet. And she stayed home with the kids.”

Gary and Vivienne founded the Player Foundation and the Gary Player Invitational series tournaments, which has raised tens of millions of dollars to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged children.

“With the travel my profession and wins have afforded my wife Vivienne and I, we have seen the poverty and enormous needs around the world,” Gary said on the foundation website. “We have gained great satisfaction from giving something back to the world in moments of success.”

Vivienne played golf and once recorded two holes-in-one in one round in Johannesburg.

Tributes poured in on social media, including the following.

Tony Jacklin

Louis Oosthuizen

Thomas Bjorn

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