Captains ban chirpy player tweets
Both US captain Corey Pavin and counterpart Colin Montgomerie, who said tweeting could cause “trouble”, confirmed their decision yesterday.
Four players in Europe’s team and five from the US side actively use Twitter.
“Tweeting and social network sites can get one into trouble,” said Montgomerie ahead of the Ryder Cup, which begins at Celtic Manor on Friday.
The Europe players who will have to refrain from posting their thoughts are US Open winner Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari.
The players from the US team that tweet include Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson.
The ban appears to have not come into effect yet, with McDowell, McIlroy and Poulter among the golfers still tweeting.
Recently, cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Dimitri Mascarenhas were both fined for rants on Twitter. Footballers Jozy Altidore and Darren Bent have also been in trouble for ill-advised public comments, while Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice lost a sponsorship deal and was forced to apologise for an allegedly homophobic remark tweet.
“The team has come to a consensus not to do it,” said fellow tweeter Pavin on the temporary ban.
“It can be a little bit distracting sometimes, and I think it is important to focus on the Ryder Cup and playing in the matches.
“We’ve decided to not tweet this week, but a week today I am sure tweeting will be all over the place.
“I think it’s important we focus on the job in hand this week.
“We have to focus on that job, and as Corey rightly says, on Monday 4 October, yes, you will find the team probably on social network sites, but not until then.”
