Name guilty golfers over poor conduct, says R&A chief

PETER Dawson, the R&A chief executive, has backed the naming and shaming of leading golfers, especially those who are role models, if they behave badly in this year's Open Championship at Royal St George's.

In February, the European Tour broke with its usual policy by naming Tiger Woods over his fine for spitting in the Desert Classic in Dubai. The action was taken after Sky commentator Ewen Murray described the incident as "one of the ugliest things you will ever see on a golf course".

While competitors in The Open Championship come under the jurisdiction of their respective Tours, Dawson revealed at yesterday's annual press briefing ahead of the event in Kent in July that he believes naming players in such instances has to happen to make sure that any sanctions imposed have the desired effect. "It is true to say that there is no room for players to hide as they are on the television screens all the time," he said. "But they are role models, so you are looking for them to behave as well as possible on the golf course.

"There have been some incidents we don't like but, generally, the behaviour in our sport is a role model for other sports. It is because of that individual instances get so much publicity and it is right that they should.

"If a player misbehaves at an Open, we are one week in 52 weeks, so we rely on the disciplinary policies of the Tours to deal with these situations. If there was an incident at The Open, we don't deal with it directly - we would report it to the Tours."

Asked if he was in favour of sanctions being imposed over incidents such as spitting, Dawson added: "I think I am actually. I don't see any harm in that at all. In fact, I think it probably strengthens a sanction, but that is a personal view."

Murray's personal view on Woods' behaviour in Dubai led the European Tour to admit it had taken action against the American for spitting on the 12th green during his final round at The Emirates.

"You look at his work ethic and he is a credit to the game. But there are some parts of him that are just arrogant and petulant. Somebody maybe has to come on this green behind him and maybe putt over his spit. It doesn't get much lower than that," said the Scot.

At the time, George O'Grady, the European Tour chief executive, agreed that it was normal practice for names and the amount of fines not to be divulged, but said the fact the incident had been highlighted so publicly left them with no option other than to name the player on that occasion.

The decision to take action against the 14-time major champion was described as "a storm in a tea cup" by Americans, but O'Grady believed the right action was taken for something that is not acceptable to most British people and, certainly, not in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, three of the fairways at Royal St George's have been widened to make them "fairer" for the event in July, but the change at the first hole is not because Woods lost a ball there off his opening tee shot in 2003.

"At the last Open here we were concerned that less than 30 per cent of the players in the field managed to hit the first, 17th and 18th fairways," said Dawson, revealing the changes to the course from eight years ago.

At the par-4 first, the driving zone has been widened by 12 yards, while the fairways have also been made easier to hit at the two closing holes - the 17th is now six yards wider, with the 18th having the tee moved to the right and the fairway bunkers reduced from three to just two.

In the last Open at Sandwich, Woods started with a triple-bogey 7 after losing a ball in the right rough, while fellow American Jerry Kelly also suffered a nightmare start as he ran up an 11. "Tiger's lost ball was not an influence - it was the overall statistic of 27-28 per cent of the players not hitting the fairway at the three holes I have mentioned," added Dawson.

The Kent venue, where Sandy Lyle lifted the Claret Jug in 1985, has been lengthened by 105 yards - it is up to 7,211 yards - and the par changed from 71 to 70 since American Ben Curtis, a rank outsider, emerged as the surprise winner in 2003.

On the front nine, the third hole is now 30 yards longer at 240 yards, the long seventh is up from 532 to 564 yards and the ninth goes up from 388 to 412 yards. On the back nine the 15th has been lengthened from 475 yards to a 496-yard par-4.

The famous fourth hole, with its massive bunker staring players in the face as they tee off, has been shortened slightly but will now play as a long and tough 495-yard par-4 rather than a 497-yard par-5.

At the 16th, a bunker - not the one where Thomas Bjorn needed three attempts to get out of as he ran up a double bogey in collapsing when three ahead with four to play eight years ago - has been filled in to create a grass swale.

Commenting on the changes, Jim McArthur, the new chairman of the R&A's championship committee, said he was confident the course would provide a test where "strategy" would be just as important as "muscle power" in determining the champion.