Golf legend Gary Player is in pretty good shape for a 77-year-old, and in an upcoming issue of ESPN the Magazine, readers will get to see just how fit the nine-time major winner is.
On Thursday, ESPN announced the names of the athletes who posed nude for the magazine’s fourth annual “Body Issue,” which hits newsstands July 12. Among them? The septuagenarian Player, who will be the oldest person to ever appear in the magazine’s special edition. (The previous oldest was 73-year-old swimmer Jeff Farrell, who stripped down in 2010.)
Player will be the seventh golfer to appear in the magazine — Camilo Villegas, Belen Mozo, Suzann Pettersen, Christina Kim, Sandra Gal and Anna Grzebien have been photographed for previous editions — however, he certainly has a different look than the others who have posed before him.
Player’s focus on his health is well-documented — he earned the nickname Mr. Fitness in the 1950s and still does 1,000 sit-ups a day — and the idea of the magazine is to celebrate the human body in all forms, a point that doesn’t seem lost on the South African-born Player:
After a lifetime dedicated to health & fitness I’m chuffed to be in @ESPNmag's Body Issue to hopefully inspire others to workout & live well
— Gary Player (@garyplayer) June 25, 2013
I was at first hesitant, but @ESPNmag's Body Issue celebrates the human body. No matter what your age, we should all look after ourselves!
— Gary Player (@garyplayer) June 25, 2013
I know I'm no Olympic athlete but have worked hard to look after myself. Hopefully @ESPNMag Body Issue will inspire others to do the same.
— Gary Player (@garyplayer) June 26, 2013
For those concerned about seeing only men their grandfather’s age in the magazine, however, fear not.
Other athletes who will join Player in the Body Issue include Matt Harvey, Colin Kaepernick, Kenneth Faried, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Giancarlo Stanton, Swin Cash, Courtney Force, John Wall, Vernon Davis, John Isner, Sydney Leroux, Carly Booth, Joffrey Lupul, Elena Hight, Agnieszka Radwanska, Chris Sharma, Daila Ojeda, Miesha Tate, Marlen Esparza and Tarah Gieger.
