Ernie Els has warned
American golfers and their supporters not to repeat the ugly behaviour
which marred last month's Ryder Cup match when the Rest of the World defend
the Presidents Cup in the United States next year.
Aware that the USA
will be as keen to regain the trophy, which they lost by a huge margin
in Australia last winter, the 30-year-old South African believes that his
team-mates will be prepared to tackle any trouble head-on.
"If it happens to
us, we have got a few guys on our team who would go a lot further than
just standing by," said the double US Open champion when he visited the
Golf Europe trade exhibition in Munich yesterday (Monday).
"Whatever happens,
you should always to try to be a gentleman out there. If you lose to a
guy who played better than you, then the spectators should respect that.
If you come from your home country to play in another country you should
not be subjected to such abuse.
"They've got to stop
such things from happening again, perhaps they should stop selling beer
or reduce the number of tickets they sell.
"I have no idea how
I would have reacted if I found myself in the same situation as Jose -
you only know what's going to happen in these situations when they happen.
"When I watched it
on television, I actually thought that by his reaction when holing his
putt that Justin had won the match. I was horrified when I realised that
Jose Maria still had a 25-foot putt for a half.
"The Ryder Cup in
stature is much bigger than the Presidents Cup, in fact it's one of my
favourite sporting events. It's great to see the top players display so
much emotion, especially someone like David Duval who is normally so deadpan
in a strokeplay event. But it's getting really big now and Brookline was
like a war."
Els was joined on
the adidas stand in Munich by Spanish teenager Sergio Garcia, who will
line up alongside him in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews which starts
on Thursday and also the Cisco World Match Play Championship at Wentworth
next week.
Garcia said his enthusiasm
for the Ryder Cup had not been dented by the events in Boston. "I want
to play in many more Ryder Cups and I don't even want to think about not
going to America again," he said. "It's a great event and I don't want
to see it destroyed."
Masters champion Jose
Maria Olazabal was also in Munich yesterday, but not for the show. As a
favour to Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wolfahrt, who cured his foot injury three
years ago, Olazabal played a round at the doctor's club on the outskirts
of Munich. Dr Muller-Wolfahrt, whose clinic has been visited by numerous
sports stars including England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams, caddied
for Olazabal during the game.
