The 2026 PGA Championship is coming to the Philadelphia region for the first time in 60 years. The Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Delaware County, last played host to the PGA Championship in 1962, when South African golf icon Gary Player won it all.

"It's an epic journey coming back here," Player said. "Everything in here, I think of the crowds cheering for you and my sweet wife, who I was with, how she kissed me three times on the 18th green. So you think of how they received me, and here I am, an honorary member."

Player's status of being an honorary member was celebrated with a room in the Aronimink Golf Club being dedicated to him as "The Gary Player Lounge."

"I don't know if I'm worthy of having a room named after me in an elegant club such as this," Player said. "And to come into that holy sphere is an honor."

While Player is a nine-time major champion and the only pro to win a grand slam — winning all four major championships — and a senior grand slam, his true heart is giving back to multiple charitable organizations, including his own, The Player Foundation."

Player explains why he's dedicated so much of his life to giving back to the community.

"I vividly remember going to a dark house in a poor neighborhood, and I go in there and I got to survive," Player said. "I remember saying to myself, funny enough, 'I'm going to be a champion at something, and when I am, I'm going to help people.'"

With the PGA Championship about seven months away, Player hopes the major event can help make a difference on and off the green.