Gary Player's Son Sorry For Marketing Stunt That Got Him Banned From Masters

Wayne Player will be able to watch The Masters again, but he will just have to do it from home.

That's because the son of Gary Player has been banned from Augusta National and therefore, The Masters, after a marketing stunt gone wrong.

It happened last year when The Masters was honoring Lee Elder as the first black man to ever compete in a major. As Elder was being honored, Wayne Player obnoxiously promoted a golf ball brand right on the screen. Wayne Player served as his father's caddy.

Elder died last year at the age of 87, but an apologetic Wayne Player said he had a chance to make amends with Elder first. He admitted the timing of the marketing tactic was way off, in an interview with Golf Digest.

“Well, they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” Player said. “I found out that that’s not quite true. I had probably 50 texts after that, 40 of them said I’m a marketing genius, 10 were like, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ It wasn’t premeditated, but it was a tacky thing.”

He said Elder expressed no hard feelings. Far from it.

"I called and I said, ‘You know, Lee, I love you guys.’ You know, everyone said I was disrespectful for a special moment in time," Player said. "I said I was sorry, and I didn’t mean to take up his special time. And he said, ‘Wayne, you know how much I love you. Right?’ It didn’t cross his mind. That’s important for people to know.”

Gary Player won three Masters during his heyday, a feat that few have accomplished. He has been on the course at Augusta plenty. Now Wayne will never get that chance again.