Baiting the Tiger
Posted on 28/04/2010Tiger Woods may have made his comeback in the relative sanctuary of Augusta, but there will be no such protection if he chooses to play at the Open. Golf fans will be allowed to heckle the world No. 1, providing it is not distracting to other players, writes Neil McLeman in The Mirror.
Golf fans will be allowed to heckle Tiger Woods at St Andrews, the head of The Open said yesterday.R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said British fans will be free to express their opinions at The Open in July because “we are not a police state.”
But he warned: “People can say what they like, but if they start putting players off then we will have something to say about it.”
But with over 200,000 fans expected on the Old Course, Dawson said fans could make any comments they like as long as it is not intrusive to the game and the playing of the Championship.
“The marshals are there to deal with that,” he added. “They have their instructions about asking people to stop.
“If they don’t stop, eventually they will be asked to leave the premises.
“Everybody gets a chance at the Open of correcting their behaviour – they are not just thrown out straight away. I don’t think there will be a negative reaction to Woods but I could be badly wrong.”
All change at Eastlands
Three of Manchester City's biggest names could be on their way out, claims Neil Custis in The
Sun
Roberto Mancini is ready to dump £50million worth of talent out of Manchester City in the summer. He will also demand full power over all transfers in and out of Eastlands.Boss Mancini wants to sell Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Stephen Ireland.
A £50million bid for Fernando Torres will kick off his efforts to reshape the side.
The Italian is close to leading City into the Champions League for the first time and planning radical changes he regards as vital to help him lift the Premier League title in 2010-11.
Adebayor, 26, cost £25m from Arsenal last year and has hit 13 goals in 28 games.
Wright-Phillips, 28, returned to City in August 2008 for £8.5m from Chelsea.
Mancini has started him in only six games, while the player has been at odds with the manager on the training ground and with the club over a new contract.