Proteas icon Herschelle Gibbs recently turned 50. He talks to GRANT SHUB about his love for golf, his admiration for Tiger Woods and why the LIV circuit cannot be taken too seriously.
Herschelle Gibbs, who reached his half century in February, has been a golf fan ever since a 21-year-old Tiger Woods shot to prominence after winning The Masters in 1997.
The fresh-faced Woods became the youngest person to claim the title and first player of colour to do so. At the time, Gibbs was 27 and had made his ODI debut against Kenya.
Gibbs, whose first love was rugby, turned to cricket after ACL surgery and forged an impressive career which saw him play 90 Test matches, 248 ODIs and 23 T20Is for South Africa.
The highs on the cricket field coincided with the lows off it and in 2000, Gibbs was banned for six months for his involvement in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal.
Having only ever dabbled in golf during Proteas off-days, enjoying driving the buggy and having a couple of drinks in the cart, Gibbs reveals the bug really bit during his ban and he was hitting bucketloads of balls at the now defunct River Club.
Gibbs started playing in golf tournaments in the early 2000s and winning prizes. He recalls playing in a Western Province Masters golf day at Clovelly with Glenn Turner and they cleaned up. Gibbs played off an 18, had the longest drive closest to the pin and shot 78. He also holds the distinction of firing a hole-in-one at Sparrebosch, now known as Pezula Golf Estate.
‘It’s funny because I got my first and only hole-in-one in the year that I started playing golf – 2001,’ Gibbs tells Compleat Golfer. ‘I’m proud of the fact that I got the first official hole-in-one there the day after the course had opened.’ He struck his ace on the 11th hole with a 9-iron. ‘And that’s the one and only one in the 20-plus years since. I’ve never scared that hole again. The closest I have come was at Atlantic Beach, but that’s it.’
Gibbs, who travelled to the sub-continent during his birthday month to compete in the Indian Veteran Premier League, also captained the Red Carpet Delhi in the T20 format.
There has been talk that LIV Golf should follow cricket’s lead and introduce an IPL-style format in which tournaments are played during certain windows. Rory McIlroy, who has been one of LIV’s biggest detractors, has softened his stance in recent times and admits he has been ‘too judgemental’ of PGA players joining the Saudi-funded league.
Gibbs, however, doesn’t mince his words when it comes to LIV Golf and feels players who have joined the breakaway league have sold their souls in return for huge paydays.
‘I’ve watched a few holes of LIV here and there and it’s more like an invitational with entertainment,’ Gibbs says. ‘I feel it’s quite embarrassing for a pro golfer not having to make a cut because that is what you dream of. You put in all the hours to become really that good only for the LIV guys to get given it on a platter. The reality is that in the league you still make money even if you come stone last so there’s no real challenge.’
Gibbs says that guys of his generation grew up watching the PGA Tour and for him it remains the pinnacle.
‘Some people might say it’s boring but I think it has prestige. There you are, a professional and have to go out and do the hard yards. The ultimate test in golf is to make a cut and, for me, Tiger was the man who made the PGA Tour.’
Woods, who has won 15 Majors, is still three short of Jack Nicklaus’ Major record and Gibbs believes it’s unlikely the 48-year-old will be able to surpass his compatriot’s feat.
‘I can’t see Tiger winning another Major because you can’t just play here and there and expect to win,’ Gibbs says. ‘To offer an analogy, in cricket the guys who think they can become better just by playing T20 – it will never happen because you are not playing often enough. Tiger always said he would win more Majors than Jack but with all his injuries it’s been a stuff-up. He has probably over-trained in terms of his swing and has done too much gym work. He hasn’t lost the strength – Tiger’s ball-striking hasn’t changed and his short game is as good as always – but the flexibility is not like it was.’
Like Woods, Gibbs has had a plethora of off-field indiscretions but he says he doesn’t hold regrets. ‘I wouldn’t change anything because I was always of the understanding that it was more important that I lived my life the way I wanted, irrespective of the sport.’
As the 50 mark ticks over, Gibbs says that he has never thought of himself as someone of his age and has always acted like he’s 20. Gibbs is dating Dana Nemeth, who is 19 years his junior and says he has to be able to run with her. The only change these days is that he is off the bubbles a bit sooner and goes to sleep a bit earlier than in the past.
‘When it comes to the legacy I want to leave behind, I was always one who wanted to entertain and a lot of people said I was ahead of my time the way I played my cricket.’
Gibbs, who is remembered for his scintillating knock of 175 runs off 111 balls while still hungover in the famous 438 match against Australia which he describes as his ‘most enjoyable innings’, says that for him, LIV Golf is like T20 cricket in its infancy and describes it as ‘a hit and giggle’. He says he can’t understand how people want to watch the same thing over and again. He compares Test cricket to the PGA Tour and says it’s the only format he watches and it, like Test cricket, remains the summit of its sport.
Gibbs, who is sponsored by Srixon, says he has been blown away by the advance in golf technology.
‘I loved the 965 range but now with the ZX7 even a mishit is closer on line than previously,’ he says in Camps Bay, while sipping on a smoothie. ‘My striking ability has improved but it makes a huge difference when you have fitted clubs.’
As Gibbs reflects on his 14-year international career, another fond memory is the six sixes he hit in one over against the Netherlands at the 2007 World Cup. The maverick cricketer with a collection of tattoos takes up the tale, ‘The field was quite small, especially the straights, and it was pure instinct. Two or three overs earlier the message came out saying, ‘Boys, we must get on with it.’ I was batting with Jacques Kallis who was never the fastest run-scorer so I thought to myself, “Cool, I’ve got licence to attack!”’
Gibbs won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and played at three ICC World Cups but first prize for him would be to attend The Masters at Augusta National in April.
‘I don’t really have a bucket list but the only thing I want to do is go watch The Masters,’ says Gibbs, who was present when Ernie Els was the last South African to win a Major at The Open in 2012. ‘I’m not worried about any other sporting event other than The Masters and if an SA golfer could organise me tickets maybe they’d end up winning.’
– This article first appeared in the March 2024 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images
