The Gary Player Invitational raises large sums for charity, as has your Player Foundation for the p ast 25 years. Children obviously mean a lot to you.

This has been an amazing event. It’s the biggest charitable golf event in SA and I hope it becomes the biggest in the world one day. It changes the lives of people. I grew up poor. I always said that if I achieved some success in life I’d like to do something for children. It keeps haunting me of how I struggled as a young kid. My mother died when I was so young, my father working in a gold mine, my brother in the World War at 17, my sister at boarding school. I can’t think of anything worse than a child who is suffering. And I believe anybody who abuses a child deserves the death penalty. That will upset some people, but it’s how I feel.

Has there been a particular moment that made an impact on you? Two years ago I visited a school in a squatter camp in Cape Town. I rank that day as one of the top five days of my life. We raise money for underprivileged children for education and when we visited this school, the children received me so nicely. They sang for me and many of them knew all about my career. I was so choked up that these kids have never slept between two white sheets, never sat on a proper toilet or in a proper bath, never gone to school in a car. But they still had this amazing optimism. I felt so encouraged that our country can produce these children under such difficult circumstances. When I left the kids hugged me and wouldn’t let go. I got in the car and cried. Another time I was walking in Cape Town and I heard somebody call my name. I looked behind me and there was nobody. Then I heard it again. After a while I looked up and a man was leaning out of a window. He shouted down at me, ‘Thank you. I’ve got this great job because of the education you gave me’. That’s very special.

What the biggest challenge facing golf? SA needs to use its golf courses to bring billions into this country. But the one thing that puts a spoke in the wheel every time is crime. I was in 13 countries in the past 28 days and everywhere I went people said they’d love to come to SA or invest here, but they’re worried about the crime. Spain gets 40 million tourists a year and they haven’t got half the infrastructure we’ve got. We have everything, but we must stop the crime.

How will golf course design overcome the increasing environmental pressures?

I’m 100% behind the government in that we need to be strict before we allow people to build golf courses. We can’t be wasting water and we need to design more brown courses, and not so green. I’ve been studying this for 10 years and we need to change our method of building courses. But courses will bring rich people here to spend big money and make investments.

Can Ernie Els win another Major? I can’t help but feel that the next South African to win a Major will be Ernie. I’ve always felt h e has unbelievable talent. People keep saying he hasn’t won a tournament in America for so long. How is it possible for a man with his talent to do that and why has his game deteriorated? Nobody can answer that. There can be many reasons why. But I have so much confidence in his ability — and he definitely has exceptional ability — that I expect him to be the next South African to win a Major.

Which Major is best suited to him?

I’ve always felt he was going to win the Masters, and I’m surprised he hasn’t. He’s not performing to the ability that he has, but I can’t help but feel he’ll do it.

What about Tiger Woods? Will he be the same force when he comes back?

Tiger will have to make changes to his swing otherwise his left knee won’t last. He’s smart and will make those changes. He needs two changes in his left leg. He’s doing something that’s affecting his leg because this is the third time it’s broken down. His left knee snaps straight when he hits the ball instead of being a little bent. But Tiger was winning tournaments with his C game. If he makes the right changes he’ll come back better than ever. If he doesn’t, his knee won’t last.

The best thing about returning to SA? My farm. For me to be on my farm with my family is my ultimate happiness. We’ll spend Christmas there and at Plettenberg Bay. I have 20 grandchildren. To make them realise how lucky they are, I take the family to an old-age home and we sing to people who don’t have anybody to visit them. That’s our present to them.

How many sit-ups can you do? My record in one day is 1600. I do a minimum of 1 000 every day. I would beat the average 30-year-old in a fitness contest.

What’s your Christmas message? Spare a moment for people that don’t have a luxurious Christmas. Make that effort to do a little thing. Put some love in somebody’s heart. — Michael Vlismas TV: Gary Player Invitational, 2pm CSN/SS1.

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