A round-up of golf news in brief

Lawrie banned for joke text

IT appears they are a sensitive lot in Aberdeenshire where former British Open champion Paul Lawrie was recently banned from the exclusive Old Meldrum House Golf Club for giving his opinion about the condition of the greens.

Playing a round with his sons, Lawrie fired off a text to friend and Old Meldrum head greenkeeper Kenny Harper criticising the greens. “Deeside greens are really good, unlike your shite” the text message read according to the Scotsman. Harper replied: “Tiger Woods is really good, unlike . . .”

Lawrie thought nothing more of it until he received a letter several days later to say he was no longer welcome at the club where he was made an honorary member after lifting the Claret Jug in 1999.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Lawrie. “You can’t get banned from a golf club for sending joke texts. It’s unbelievable.”

Open and shut case for pro

A 62-year-old golf club professional was awarded almost €14,173 compensation after being forced by his employers to open the club shop despite fears for his safety.

Jeff Williams was afraid of opening first thing in the morning for fear of being attacked and the premises vandalised at the Airlinks Golf Club in Hounslow, West London.

Williams, who was forced to resign, said his pleas were ignored because of his age even though his employers knew it was “unsafe for employees to open up on their own” according to the judge.

The tribunal sided in favour of Williams, who was awarded €13,780 for his troubles.

Old pals back to razor-sharp best

GOOD friends Tiger Woods and Roger Federer not only share the same airtime in Gillette adverts but the pair’s recent form appears to be back to their razor-sharp best and by coincidence they currently share the same tally of 14 grand slams/majors in their respective sports.

When Federer finally got the job done on clay at this year’s French Open at Roland Garros, Woods was quickly on the phone to congratulate his buddy after being glued to the final on TV. The same day (June 7th) Woods went on to win the Memorial Tournament in imperious fashion.

In seven years Federer (27) has raced to a magical 14 grand slams – equalling Pete Sampras’ record – to become only the sixth player to have won all four tennis majors.

Woods was practically competing on one leg when he landed his 14th major at last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines. He was 32 when he beat Rocco Mediate in the play-off and his major tally has been 11 years in the making.

Although Woods failed to get the job done at a rain-soaked Bethpage – where he won when the US Open was last played there in 2002 – he will have to wait until Turnberry for the chance to add to his major haul.

For now, though, Federer will get the chance to return serve at Wimbledon and move one major ahead of Woods.

Harrington's slump is fast shaping in to a crisis

AT what point does a slump turn into a crisis? For three-time major winner Pádraig Harrington that may be a thought process he simply refuses to address. However, after another missed cut at the US Open, the 37-year-old isn’t where he wants to be and the stats for a poor first half of the year speak for themselves.

Since January Harrington has missed seven cuts in 15 starts plus a first-round exit at the World Matchplay in Arizona. Focus in the early part of the year was on the States but he missed the cut at the ATT at Pebble Beach and the Northern Trust Open, followed by defeat to American Pat Perez in the Matchplay.

After a frustrating week at Augusta, where he tied a lowly 35th, Harrington went on to miss the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship. Last month he returned home for the Irish Open but had the weekend off at Baltray. In the build-up to the US Open Harrington returned to the States then missed the cut at the Memorial and the St Jude’s Classic, and once more at Bethpage where he shot a pair of 76s.

This time last year Harrington was third in the world and a genuine challenger for Tiger Woods’ number one spot. Now he is 11th, 65th in the Race to Dubai (with €247,508 from six events) and 108th on the PGA Tour money list (with $400,920 from 12 events).

Harrington’s supporters can only hope he returns to the sort of form that brought so much success this time last year.

Golfing slang of the week

“A Tony Blair . . . It started on the left and ended up on the right"