MARK James, the poacher-turned-gamekeeper in that he has matured from
youthful rebellion to a place among European professional golf's ruling
establishment, yesterday took the opportunity of the abandonment of the
first round of the Dunhill British Masters to take up the cause of the
boiler room against the bridge.
Not even Woburn's deserved reputation for being able to absorb copious
draughts of rain could withstand the deluge of the last two days. After
the cancellation of the pro-am competition on Wednesday the start of the
tournament itself was called off without a shot having been hit.
If the weather relents, the intention now is to play the first and
second rounds today and tomorrow and cut to 50 and ties for 36 holes on
Sunday. Mike Stewart, the tournament director, and everyone else
connected with the #650,000 event must hope fervently that not too many
do qualify for the final rounds.
Precedents do exist. On two previous occasions, in 1985 and 1992, the
tournament lost a day's play and 61 and 54 competitors respectively
survived. It would be too much to hope for a repetition of last week's
convenient cut in the European Open, where exactly 65 escaped the axe.
Among the early starters cooling their heels in the clubhouse awaiting
a decision, some whiled away the time discussing the recent comments of
Nick Faldo and Severiano Ballesteros on the present discontents, as they
and other leading professionals see them, concerning the operation of
the Tour.
Needless to say, the view of the other ranks differed from the
assertions of the officer class that the programme was too long, that
too many courses were inferior in conditioning and as challenges, that
some practice and other facilities left much to be desired, and that the
International Management Group's influence was too pervasive.
Expression to their opinions was articulated by James who, entirely of
his own volition, wandered over to the press centre, with whose
inhabitants the 40-year-old Lancastrian has had relations varying from
the distant to the caustic, to voice the thoughts of ''the average
players''.
''I couldn't believe the things Nick said,'' James, a member of the
tour's tournament committee, declared. ''The universal opinion was that
he must be playing a different tour to the rest of us. I think it is
difficult to get an overall picture of the venues if he has played in
only seven European tournaments this season.
''One reason for the development of good players, of whom Faldo is
definitely one, over the last 15 years is that everything is not laid on
and courses are different,'' James continued. ''One week you are hitting
drives and long irons, the next trying to keep the ball on the course
with a No.5 iron in all sorts of winds.''
James then added: ''I can understand them being bothered about quality
rather than quantity, but if there are 38 tournaments you are bound to
play some in poor weather and have to go to indifferent courses just to
have the tournaments.
''I think you will find the guy who is fortieth in the qualifying
school or at the lower end of the order of merit won't be complaining
about too many tournaments. More tournaments mean more money and that is
what we are playing for -- our living. It is not handed us on a plate.''
Recalling that in the 1970s, before the Tour's rapid expansion, IMG
had kept several tournaments going, James complained ''that many top
players' thinking is dominated by money. Some won't play without
guarantees, but I know a number of players -- and I am one of them --
who, if they won the British Open, would not take extra-curricular money
in Europe.
''I think the top players make enough already not to need extra
inducements,'' James concluded. ''It's a shame they won't go to some of
the smaller events, but where they play is dominated by money factors,
which is incompatible with their criticisms of the length of the Tour.''
* FORMER Renfrewshire Ladies county champion Donna Jackson carded a 79
in wet underfoot conditions at Gourock yesterday to win the scratch
section of the Renfrewshire Ladies Autumn Meeting. Leading scores:
Scratch: 79 -- D Jackson (Cochrane Castle). Handicap (scr-9): 77 -- P
Orr (Paisley, 4). 78 -- S Hamilton (Haggs Castle, 9). 79 -- D Jackson
(Cochrane Castle, scr). Handicap (10-13): 74 -- R Davis (Cathcart
Castle, 10) bih, R Dykes (Bonnyton, 10). 75 -- M Cameron (Whitecraigs,
11). Handicap (14 plus): 73 -- M Johnson (Gourock, 20). 75 -- M Harper
(Erskine, 19). 77 -- J Attwooll (Caldwell, 18).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article