The now generation call it doom-scrolling. You start with the best intentions – just a few minutes to fritter away on social media before getting on with something altogether more meaningful. Me? Guilty as charged. But an even bigger recent frustration is not stopping to screengrab, or at least make a note of, what I found interesting. The algorithms then took over my feed and that post (was it Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok?) was lost, despite my best efforts to search with trigger phrases.

One such post was about someone in a group of golfers pointing out just how great the now 90-year-old Gary Player is – and it made so much sense.

The man speaking explained it something along these lines (and I've added my own spin for effect).

'Of all the people who have ever played a round of golf, and guesstimates are around 200-million men in the last hundred years, only a small number have got their handicaps down to single figures.

Of that small number who have got their handicaps down to single figures, only a small number have become scratch golfers.

Of that small number who have become scratch golfers, only a small number have become top amateurs.

Of that small number of top amateurs only a small number have turned pro.

Of that small number who have turned pro, only a small number have ever won a tournament.

Of that small number of pros who have won a tournament, only a small number have ever played in a Major.

Of that small number who have played in a Major, only a small number have ever won a Major.

Of that small number who have won a Major, only 47 men have won three or more Majors.

Of those 47, only six have won all four Majors – the Grand Slam. 

Those men are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy – and Gary Player.'

Suddenly, things crystalised, a coherent argument for which to throw into conversation when people start talking about the greatest-ever South African sportsperson. How can it be anyone else?

The reason I say this is because the more social media has become part of everyday lives, the more it has allowed the keyboard trolls to be heard. We routinely hear the expression 'chokers' thrown around with no understanding of what it means. And we've seen how easy it is to be critical of a player or team, with no responsibility to back up an argument or opinion.

I know of many household-name sportsmen and women who stay off social media. Psychologists will tell you that one can read 100 comments about your performance and even if 99 of them are glowingly positive, the one negative will be the one that you remember. That's not to say there aren't professional rage-baiters who try to encourage the negatives and deliberately post controversy to stir the pot and feed their ego. One name immediately springs to mind. Yes, him.

Gary Player's social media activity – whether it's the great man himself posting or his team – is prolific, but some of the criticism he gets is not just sad, it's disgusting. But that's what social media has introduced to the world. Everyone now has a public opinion on someone or some subject that they would never have had 20 years ago.

Some of the common criticisms of Gary Player is that he has too much to say, and is not shy to promote his own life and achievements. If that's all that one has in the locker to throw at him, then shame on you.

He is a remarkable man who has left an indelible mark, not only on global golf but he is the most recognisable sporting figure that South Africa has ever produced. And when one slowly unpacks what he has achieved, the Grand Slam… wow.

Gary Lemke