The great little man was at The River Club, between promotional stops, hitting several hundred balls and being the high-profile star that he is, he had very soon attracted a sizeable gallery as he worked at moving his own swing closer to the classical Hogan swing.

And, of course, being the man that he is, he was soon conducting an impromptu clinic that had the crowd laughing, nodding in agreement or gasping in awe at the sheer skill he still displays at the ripe old age of 70.

It didn't take the multi-major winner too long to get onto his fitness hobby horse and to disclose that earlier in the day he had done 1000 - yes that's right, 1000 - sit-ups before coming to the range because "modern sport is all about strong stomach muscles".

"If you look at me," he boasted as he slapped his midriff, "You'll see that I'm as flat as a fit 30-year-old."

And he was right of course - though age is beginning to show in a slight stoop of the shoulders

"Be you a shot-putter, a javelin thrower or a golfer," he said demonstrating the mechanics of each type of swing," performance today is all about using the stomach muscles to get oomph into what ever it is that you have to do."

On sheer strength, Player singled out Arnold Palmer as one of the strongest golfers he has ever known.

"The strength in his arms was incredible.

"He's the only man I know of who has ever been able to pick up a standard gold bar with one hand and I have absolutely no doubt that in his prime, he would have made short work of any current golfer in an arm wrestling contest; yes even one as athletic as Tiger Woods."

On the life of leading golfers of today, Player, just one of a handful who can claim to have won all four majors - and who was just one major short of joining Jack Nicklaus as the only golfer to have won all four twice - said "Let's face it, they have things much easier than we did.

"Because there is so much money in the game, they don't have to use commercial airlines like we did and they play far fewer tournaments, yet they still complain of too much travel making them tired! Wow!

"When you go to the big tournaments these days you'll see guys like Tiger, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson all arriving in their private jets - and they are soon followed by fleets of smaller planes. These are the caddies," he added smiling.

Wielding his Callaway clubs with great authority - and no longer walking through at the end of his shots because "I have strengthened my leg muscles" - Player sent ball after ball straight to it's target - even when he changed the plain and the shape of his back swing to underline the fact that the critical part of any swing is "in the way you start your downswing".

Player reckoned that with all the new technology, he can still, at 70, drive the ball with his stiff-shafted titanium driver 260 yards - the same distance he was hitting it with persimmon woods in the mid 1950s - and can hit 13 out of 18 fairways in every round he plays

"And where's the hook?" someone in the gallery asked, making the observation that Player seemed to be hitting the ball much straighter than he used to.

Player chuckled. "You must be one of the older guys here who remembers me when I was using clubs with wooded heads.

"Modern equipment makes to so much easier to hit the ball straight, it's almost unfair.

"Of course for the pros they are going to have to call a halt to all this technology sometime. It's making some of the game's great golf courses redundant."

During his spell on the tee Player called up a young teenager whose swing had impressed him.

"Show these folks how well you can hit the ball, he said, encouraging the youngster to crush a drive almost as far as he had been hitting his.

"It's a greatswing isn't it," he said praising the boy, "but I have to tell you," he said moving in to the lecturing mode that hasn't always endeared him to everyone, "that a great natural swing isn't enough.

"You could have the potential to go out one day and win $2m , but you and others like you are never going to get there unless you stay off drugs, eat correctly, work out regularly and work like a slave at your game.

"Nothing less will do."

And Player should know. Always one of the smaller men in the game and with very little financial assistance at the start of his career beyond what his miner father was able to provide, South Africa's most successful golfer ever got where he did on sheer hard graft, wise course management and some good, old-fashioned grit.

Player, who was also able to pick up all four senior majors when he moved into over-50s golf, no longer wins tournaments, though if you had seen the distance and accuracy he was getting at the River Club, you could not help but wonder why.

Yet even his detractors - and like all celebrities he has his share of them - would have to admit that the little Black Knight still has an enormously commanding and authoritive presence where ever he goes.

Certainly it was there at the River Club last week.

And like the Joneses and Hogans before him and the Palmers and Nicklauses who played against him, he is clearly one of the major reasons why golf is what it is today.