STRAMASH ON FIRST TEE AROUND TIGER WOODS IN TURKEY

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE 
By JAMES CORRIGAN
Tiger Woods unwittingly found himself part of a police investigation here on Tuesday following a claim by a photographer that he had been headbutted by Turkey’s top-ranking golf official

The alleged incident occurred as the world No 2 golfer waited to tee off at the inaugural Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals. Cihat Unal, who works for a local news agency, pressed assault charges against Ahmet Agaoglu, the president of the Turkish Golf Federation who have arranged the biggest golf event ever to take place in the country.

Amid chaotic scenes on the first tee at the Antalya Golf Club, Unal’s glasses were broken and he immediatedly attended a police station to file his complaint.

Agaoglu denied he headbutted Unal, saying: “He pushed me and I pushed him back and he fell over.”

Nevertheless, this is an embarrassing episode for the tournament’s organisers. With four of the world’s top five in the elite eight-man field, this matchplay event has been staged to showcase Turkey’s merits as a top golfing venue as well as advance the prospective bid for the 2022 Olympics. The crowds were bigger than expected with the majority drawn to Woods’s match against Charl Schwartzel.

Tiger Woods had never played here before and the anticipation was predictably frenzied. When he walked out to face the South African, the local media swarmed around him. Mark Steinberg, Woods’ manager, was heard to comment “the cameramen are out of control”, with the golfer’s heavy security detail struggling to contain the frenzy. It was at this stage that the tussle occured, although is not known if Woods witnessed the alleged assault.

Agaoglu has been the driving force in bringing big-time golf to his country. Next season his federation are working towards helping to hold two European Tour events in this region, with a $7million spectacular inked in for the week before the season-ending Dubai World Championship. 

A millionaire through haulage, Agaoglu has a vision for Turkish golf and also for sport in general. Turkish Airlines are partly state-owned and their backing can, to a degree, be attributed to the desire to raise the country’s sporting profile with the Olympic bidding process looming.
Woods will inevitably be questioned by the media here on Wednesday. It is a controversy he could plainly do without as he tries to recover from the defeat to Schwartzel in his first group match.
Woods will play Rory McIlroy, the world No1, in a long-awaited duel, although if the pair are both beaten, by Schwartzel and Matt Kuchar respectively, then the match would be a dead rubber with both effectively eliminated before tomorrow’s semi-finals. That would be another blow for the organisers of the $5.2million championship.
Both players only had themselves to blame for their poor openings. Woods took a triple bogey seventh on the ninth after a visit to the water and a three-putt. That handed the initiative to Schwartzel, who held on to win by a shot in the medal strokeplay format. In truth, Woods’s 70 was very commendable when compared to McIlroy’s five-over 76.
The Northern Irishman was level with Kuchar - another member of the losing Ryder Cup team at Medinah 12 days ago – on the 15th when his own seven caused his challenge to implode, as he dropped seven strokes in three holes.
Kuchar said he believed his opponent “lost interest” after chopping around in the trees on his way to a triple bogey and McIlroy admitted as much.
 “I was playing pretty well until the 15th, then I hit it into the hazard on 16 and was just trying to get the round done,” he said.
Woods conceded his showdown with McIlroy would be an anti-climax unless they could come through their second group matches. “We have to both win in the morning,” said Woods, who did not win any of his four matches at the Ryder Cup.
In group two, Justin Rose beat Hunter Mahan by four shots and Lee Westwood beat Webb Simpson by one after the US Open champion bogeyed the 18th. Westwood and Rose go head-to-head in all-English confrontation on Wednesday morning. “We’ve gone from Ryder Cup team-mates to opponents,” said Westwood. “We’re individuals again.” 

WESTWOOD BACKS CLARKE TO BE RYDER
CUP CAPTAIN AT GLENEAGLES 2014 
 

Lee Westwood backed Darren Clarke to be Europe's next Ryder Cup captain on Tuesday as the Northern Irishman’s candidature for the 2014 match at Gleneagles began to look inevitable.  Paul McGinley is still the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed José María Olazábal, the Spaniard who presided over the thrilling 14½-13½ win at Medinah 10 days ago. But it is understood Clarke has been approached by influential figures within the European Tour to take on the challenge in Perthshire rather than wait until Minnesota in 2016. The Ulsterman certainly has the requisite stardust for the role. He ended his major drought when he won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George’s and his name will forever be linked with his performance at the 2006 Ryder Cup, when he played a key role in helping Europe to an emphatic victory, just months after the death of his wife, Heather, from cancer, He also has some high-profile supporters among Europe’s star-studded squad, not least Westwood. who urged for him to be named as Olazábal’s successor. “If I were asked to pick, it would be Darren Clarke,” said Westwood. “He has been a Ryder Cup stalwart for many years. The one at the K Club in 2006 will be remembered for him, his great performance under the stress of what he was going through at the time. “He is a major champion, tactically he is very astute. I think he has a lot going for him.”