Horseflies and dodgy curries spice it up for top managers

LAST WEEK we broke the news to Chris Wood’s 242 managers that the combination of a dodgy curry, a flooded flat and three days…

LAST WEEK we broke the news to Chris Wood’s 242 managers that the combination of a dodgy curry, a flooded flat and three days in his sick bed had resulted in him withdrawing from the BMW International Open in Munich.

The better news is that the latest update on his blog says: “Hello everyone – I’m at a busy airport waiting to board my flight to Paris for the Open de France. It feels great to be back on tour.” So, short of a French air traffic control strike, which you can probably never rule out, Wood should be back in action.

Similarly, we ventured in to cyberspace to try to find the latest news on Ian Poulter – from the horse’s mouth, so to speak – in the hope of reassuring his 233 employers that a brush with, well, a horsefly wouldn’t hinder his hopes of making an impact at the French Open.

Poulter thinks he was bitten on the shin by one of the creatures while practising at Woburn on Monday and, after it became infected, he withdrew from the pre-French Open pro-am.

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On his Twitter account, though, all his thoughts were focused on his new Jaguar XFR. “It’s awesome,” he declared, prompting a less than sympathetic “fan” to reply: “Cool car, but can you drive with your insect bite?” He has yet to reply.

Colin Montgomerie, who is in 111 of our teams, also missed the pro-am while he received treatment for a torn calf muscle and Achilles strain, while Lee Westwood (336 teams), of course, had a more serious health scare yesterday, but was cleared by hospital tests of having a blood clot in his right leg.

Good news, too, for Jose Maria Olazabal’s 134 exceptionally patient managers – he is due to play in the French Open, which would be his first event of the year.

But, between dodgy curries, peckish horseflies and aching Achilles, life as a Golf Masters’ manager is just a game of wait and see. With a whole lot of finger-crossing thrown in.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times