AFP/Seoul


South African golfer Louis Oosthuizen said yesterday he felt Tiger Woods should have been disqualified from the US Masters for signing a wrong scorecard following an incorrect drop.
The world number seven will be the highest-ranked player teeing off today in the $2.8 million Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea, the golf-crazy country’s only European Tour tournament.
Asked about the Woods incident at a pre-tournament press conference,  Oosthuizen said he was with those who felt the 14-time major champion should not have been allowed to finish the tournament in Augusta.
After hitting the flagstick and seeing his ball roll into a water hazard at the 15th hole at Augusta, Woods dropped the ball two yards back from the original shot to avoid a similar risk on the next shot.
He was given a two-stroke penalty for an improper drop, but escaped disqualification for signing an incorrect scorecard after the competition committee invoked a rule for a player who “unknowingly” makes a penalty.
“He got the rule wrong in the way he dropped,” Oosthuizen said. “I don’t think he did it intentionally. But after signing the scorecard, it was definitely a DQ.”
Some former and current players had suggested Woods withdraw from the Masters, but he went on to complete the tournament.
McIlroy ‘should represent Ireland’
Two-time Major winner Rory McIlroy should be allowed to represent Ireland at the 2016 Olympics and not have to make his own mind up about who he plays for, Peter Dawson, CEO of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R & A) said.
Dawson, who played a key role in golf regaining its’ place at the Olympics when it was voted back in four years ago, said it was unfair placing the pressure on the 23-year-old Northern Ireland-born golfer to make up his mind.
McIlroy could play for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympics - where golf last featured in 1904 - as being from Northern Ireland he is also eligible for the British team.
While Northern Ireland no longer suffers from deadly sectarian attacks, religious tensions still run high and, were McIlroy to choose to represent Ireland, he could face a backlash from the Loyalist community, who are predominantly Protestant.
However, opting for Great Britain would see him become the possible target of abuse from Republicans, who are predominantly Roman Catholic.
McIlroy told the BBC in January that he might even skip the Games so as not to cause offence to either side of the sectarian divide.
“Play for one side or the other—or not play at all because I may upset too many people. Those are my three options I’m considering very carefully,” he said.
Dawson, though, speaking on Tuesday to a select group of journalists, said he hoped that the decision would be taken out of McIlroy’s hands.  
“Because of Rory’s history of playing for Ireland at amateur level and at World Cup level there may be a regulation within the Olympic rules which would determine who he would have to play for,” said Dawson.
“We are still looking at the matter but under that regulation he could play under Irish colours.
“It’s quite ambiguous as there are regulations within the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that if you play previous world championships for a certain country that has to carry with you.
“So the question is, is the World Cup of Golf a world championship and so on. Golf isn’t structured in the same way as it is with other sports.”

Men-only clubs ‘damage golf’ — charity


AFP, London: Golf clubs such as the hosts of this year’s British Open, Muirfield, and the game’s spiritual home St Andrews, are damaging the sport’s reputation by remaining men-only, a British charity that promotes women’s participation in physical activity said yesterday.
“While it may be lawful for private member clubs to remain men-only, it is clearly damaging to the sport’s reputation that these two iconic clubs don’t allow female members,” said the chief executive of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), Sue Tibballs.
“Not only is it ridiculously outdated, it sends out completely the wrong message to women and girls thinking about taking up the sport.  
“A number of golfing bodies are working very hard to break down the traditional perceptions of the sport and encourage a new generation of female participants, and these clubs do nothing to help that cause.”
Muirfield, a links course east of Edinburgh, can trace its history back to 1744 and this year hosts the Open for the 16th time since 1892.  St Andrews, up the coast north of the Scottish capital, has hosted the Open 28 times since 1873. It is considered “the home of golf” and the game has been played there since the 15th century.
The 144th edition of the championship will be played at St Andrews in two years’ time.
Gender equality has long been a thorny issue in golf and it was only last year that the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the annual US Masters, admitted its first female members after pressure from campaigners.
“If the Augusta National Golf Club recognises the reputational damage that excluding women has, then it is time the Members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield also joined the 21st century,” said Tibballs.