Ballesteros accepts Tour fine for outburst

Seve Ballesteros has accepted a severe reprimand and undisclosed fine for his controversial conduct in the Italian Open three…

Seve Ballesteros has accepted a severe reprimand and undisclosed fine for his controversial conduct in the Italian Open three weeks ago.

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They listened to me and I will accept what the [tournament] committee decides because they represent the players
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Seve Ballesteros

Ballesteros was penalised a stroke for slow play during the third round of the tournament but refused to accept it and changed his scorecard.

European tour chief referee John Paramor, who had imposed the penalty, disqualified him for that and Ballesteros then verbally attacked tour officials, calling them the "PGA Mafia" and accusing Paramor of victimising him.

The reprimand was given for the scorecard incident and the fine was for his comments.

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Ballesteros said in a statement afterwards: "We had a good meeting and it was very brief. I said what I had to say and I tried to defend myself in a way I thought was fair.

"They listened to me and I will accept what the [tournament] committee decides because they represent the players".

Afterwards chairman Mark James said: "Seve gave us a full explanation and his side of the story. The committee are not disclosing the fine, but if Seve wants to he can".

On the scorecard incident, James added that Ballesteros was "just making a stand, not attempting to cheat", while on the fine James was prepared to say that "it is with reluctance that we ever fine anybody like Seve".