Do you think it makes a bit of a mockery of the scoring system?

Well it does. Not like the USGA where you have to have level par as the winning score at any cost, because they’ve proved that they can be borderline or worse than borderline in the last couple of years. I don’t see anything wrong with 8 or 9 under par but I see an awful lot wrong with 20 or 24 under par which is the norm on the easier courses in America.

There are many things that put people off golf such as the rules etc. Is there enough being done to attract new players?

I think Woods has been very good for youngsters across the world, not just in America, and Wie will be very good for girls. So these two things are pluses. There was an event last year, the All Star Cup at Celtic Manor, between celebrities of Europe and celebrities of the United States, and 38,000 people turned out to see them because they were celebrities, not to see them perform as golfers. I would suspect that 75 per cent of the crowd weren’t golfers, but by the end of the week maybe 2 to 3 per cent decided to become golfers, because its fashionable. These celebrities are doing it so why can’t I do it. I think from that point of view its good. I think Nick Faldo’s Junior Series is very important to the game as is Woods’ foundation. And if these icons and heroes of so many younger people, if their name is attached to that then the next generation may well come from these two foundations. There’s another one in South Africa, the Ernie Els Foundation, and Immelman came out of that, and so did Schwartzel - both winners on the tour. So these foundations are important with the backing of the good names.

Would you like to see more American’s coming over to the European Tour, as opposed to it always being about European’s going to the American Tour?

Well the European’s go there because the world ranking points are greater and the money is greater.

Is it right that it should be balanced that way?

It’s a bigger country than Europe I guess you could say.

But a tour in itself regardless of size of the country should have the same rights, so to speak?

The Americans will never come over here because life is very easy for them in America. And that’s not their fault, it’s just the way it is. They don’t need a passport, and some of them don’t have a passport. Travel is easier. Their tax laws allow them to own private planes, or shares in private planes, because 100 per cent goes against tax. They’re playing for a first prize every week of 900,000 dollars. They’re playing for more world ranking points than any of us over here, except for the BMW, which used to be the PGA. So there isn’t any need for them to leave, and they’ve got 45 tournaments or whatever, and each one carries that prize fund, some of them greater. The more of them they play, the more points they acquire, the more chance they have of getting into the top 50 in the world. You get into them you get into the world golf championships. If you do well in them you get into all the majors.

So what would be the attraction for them to come over here? It's not their fault they have it so easy, but that’s the way it is...