PGA Tour legend Gary Player alleges a replica of the claret jug from his 1974 Open Championship and one of his Masters trophies have been auctioned off without his approval.
In November 2020, the jug was sold by Golden Age Auctions for $143,030 as part of a package that included the South African's '78 Masters Trophy ($253,386), '65 U.S. Open trophy ($97,691) and '72 Wanamaker ($80,736), awarded to winner of the PGA Championship. At the time, Player stated his disapproval.
This past Sunday, Golden Age flipped the same claret jug for $481,068. (The buyer and seller were not made public.)
“The rarity of official large claret jugs like this cannot be overstated,” Golden Age wrote on its website. “Though we've had the privilege of offering 7 different Masters Tournament trophies for auction over the years, this is the ONLY official large Claret Jug that we've ever brought to auction.
“When Gary Player won his Open Championships, he had to return the permanent Claret Jug after his year as defending Champion had expired. Years later, the Royal & Ancient finally allowed a large-scale Claret Jug to be produced for each living Open Champion (only one for each victory), including this trophy.”
The nine-time major champion said he will pursue legal action over the sale.
“Neither of the 1974 Masters Trophy nor the 1974 Open Trophy were sold by me or by one of my companies,” Player, 88, wrote in a statement posted on X. “Each of these trophies was granted to me for my sole use and enjoyment as winner of the respective Majors. The person entrusted with ensuring the safekeeping of these items on my behalf and who was tasked with using them to enshrine my golfing achievements has done the opposite by offering them for sale without my consent and against my wishes. My legal team is taking appropriate steps to resolve this unlawful situation.”
Golden Age Auctions pushed back on Player's claims, in a statement provided to Golf Digest by president Ryan Carey.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Player’s statements about the sale of replica trophies are not accurate. Shortly after the COVID pandemic began, Gary Player’s company had serious cash flow issues and reached out to a number of auction houses to sell its collection of replica trophies in order to meet payroll. Golden Age then facilitated a private transaction between Gary Player’s Black Knight International company and a private buyer. The net proceeds of this sale were paid directly to Gary Player’s Black Knight International. The private buyer then sold some of the trophies, including this exact same replica 1974 Claret Jug at public auction in November 2020. Mr. Player was well aware of those sales back in 2020, and he was aware of them when he made these contradictory statements today.
“While Golden Age has the utmost respect for what Mr. Player accomplished as a golfer, his inaccurate statements are simply not acceptable under any circumstances.”
Player has a history of pursuing legal action regarding his memorabilia. In 2022, he sued his son, Marc, and his grandson for unreturned items. He won a $5 million royalties dispute over Marc in 2020.
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