Tour dismiss shotgun start

The European Tour today rejected a request from both the tournament promoter and BBC Television to speed up the third round of the British Masters at The Belfry.

Six hours had been lost to fog and the halfway stage of the £1.8m (€2.2m) tournament was not reached until 1.30pm today.

Promoter Andrew “Chubby” Chandler had the idea of a shotgun start, with players teeing off from every hole on the Ryder Cup course, and BBC Sport executive producer Paul Davies was all for it as well because it meant the television coverage would have the leaders in action sooner.

But after discussions that involved the Tour’s chief executive George O’Grady it was announced play in the third round would start from only the first and 10th tees.

Defending champion Lee Westwood was out in front with Swede Alexander Noren at halfway and as a result of the decision they were not going out again – from the 10th tee – until 4.05pm and were likely to play only about 12 holes before it was too dark to continue.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Chandler. “We suggested it because we thought it would please the fans here and the television audience.”

Tour chief referee John Paramor stated: “We’ve had the request before and it’s never been entertained because it’s not professional tournament golf.

“It just does not happen except in pro-ams. In serious tournament golf no.

“It’s very difficult for the public to understand where the players are and there is no correlation between where they are and how many holes to go.

“The score means nothing until everybody is finished. And we are pretty confident that players would not like to be drawn to start on certain holes.”

Paul Davies, the BBC’s executive producer, commented: “I totally respect the decision and it’s something we have to go with.

“The Tour was worried about the precedent and they are charged with running the event.”

Friday’s play was delayed for three and a quarter hours and this morning play resumed at 7.45am, but was halted again after only two minutes and did not get going again until 10.30am.

Westwood, who was in the half who completed their second rounds yesterday, was joined at the top when Noren birdied the sixth, his first hole of the day, and handed in a 66.