Hick does England a favour

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by Oliver

In cricket, sledging is between balls, not while the batsman is taking his shot. I'm not a huge golf fan, but it seems to me that when the pros ask for hush from the crowds and stand bolt upright when they hear a couple of cameras go, they should understand that shouting: "Yo the man" and "U-S-A, U-S-A" just as someone's about to take a shot is unforgiveable.
And in a close contest...tantamount to cheating.

American golfers always remark how polite, knowlegdeable and intelligent the crowds are at the British Open. Are they just being nice to the hosts? Or do you suppose that American golfing audiences contain a large yobbish element?

American golfers can lean towards yobbish behaviour too, Oliver - I remember the last occassion they won the Ryder cup, all the players ran all over the green celebrating even though Olazbethael still had a (long) putt to halve the hole and tie the match. of course, running all over the pitch messed up the green enough to make his putt harder....charming behaviour!

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Kirsty Harris

American golfers can lean towards yobbish behaviour too, Oliver - I remember the last occassion they won the Ryder cup, all the players ran all over the green celebrating even though Olazbethael still had a (long) putt to halve the hole and tie the match. of course, running all over the pitch messed up the green enough to make his putt harder....charming behaviour!

That's exactly where I was going with my golfing remembrances. Strangely though, I have not seen the end of a major golf tournament in about sixteen years...as I've played cricket nearly every summer Sunday since 1988.

Sad bastard that I am.

I read about the Olazabal incident in the press the following morning and well...it encapsulates all I have ever known and come to despise about Americans and their "sportsmanship."

Let's get back to the cricket...
...then we don't have to think about USA until the ICC are truly desperate for money.