No Evans apology required in Monty row

Phil Casey

Evans claimed "98%" of tour members were not happy that Montgomerie had escaped any sanction besides a brief statement expressing the European Tour tournament committee's "dissatisfaction" over his incorrect drop during the Indonesian Open in March.

Montgomerie donated his £24,000 winnings to charity after viewing footage which showed he had replaced his ball in the wrong place after a suspension of play, but kept the world ranking points which helped him earn a place in this month's US Open much to Evans' apparent unhappiness.

European Tour chief executive George O'Grady was furious with Evans for re-igniting the issue during the tour's flagship event last week, and demanded he apologise to the tournament committee, of which Montgomerie is a member.

But the committee's chairman, Jamie Spence, today insisted Evans did not need to apologise and Montgomerie was guilty of only an "inadvertent, minor breach" of the rules.

"I spoke at length with Gary on Tuesday, he didn't apologise and I didn't expect him to," said Spence, speaking at the Wales Open from which Evans withdrew yesterday with a back injury.

"I don't want his apology. It's a free world. I want the members to be able to say what they want but say it to us or George (O'Grady). I think the timing of his comments were very poor but I don't think he fully understood the issues involved.

"I think the players feel we should have taken some action but there is no action to take. Colin broke a rule and the referee at the time agreed he didn't incur a penalty. The biggest mistake was not marking his ball and I think there were circumstances around that ie the lightning and the fact he was hot under the collar and very angry with himself.

"The fact is Colin inadvertently broke a rule which, under our rules, is a minor breach. It should have been a two-shot penalty and, if he had signed his card, then it would have been disqualification.

"In hindsight you cannot disqualify somebody this is a misconception after the event. Nor can he disqualify himself and give back his anking points.

"He felt it was a nice gesture to donate his prize money but I don't think he was admitting any guilt. The facts are that all he did was inadvertently break a rule of golf.

"We put ourselves on a high moral ground as golfers and it's difficult to live up to. We will make a recommendation to the R&A regarding marking of the ball. If any player is in close proximity he should mark it. If you come back and the marker is missing then you get the referee to agree where to put the ball and there is no dispute."

Meanwhile, former champion Paul McGinley believes talk of a sub-60 round at this week's Open could prove a little optimistic.

With the Wentwood Hills course at Celtic Manor under reconstruction ahead of the 2010 Ryder Cup, the £1.5million event is being staged over the Roman Road course, which is 600 yards shorter with a par of 69.

"It might be one of the shortest courses we play but I don't think it's going to be the easiest," he said.

"From what I hear the rough is up, the greens are very tricky and there are a lot of elevation changes. Bad weather is forecast and I don't think you are going to find extremely low scoring from what my caddie has told me after walking the course.

"I hear there are a lot of different experiences from the flatness and firmness of Wentworth last week but that is what the European Tour is all about.

"I think it adds to the ability of the European player in that we play in varied conditions. That adds to our repertoire rather than take it away."