Unusual time for tempers to flare

The European Tour has opened the new season amid a flurry of golf rage. It's an unusual time for tempers to flare, this tends to happen towards the end of the year as players' enthusiasm for their profession wanes. With seasons overlapping it has become difficult for many golfers to distinguish between one year and the next, perhaps the culprits of the most recent incidents of rage have not fully recharged their batteries after 2000.

The tour kicked-off in South Africa three weeks ago. The general consensus amongst the participants was that Johannesburg was very enjoyable and East London, to be blunt, was a "kip". The round-the-world "European" schedule moving south to Africa, east to Australia and working north and west back towards Europe for the spring is actually a relatively painless venture.

So the journey from South Africa to Perth for the Heineken should not have caused undue stress for seasoned travellers like golf pros. The Sunday night flight from Johannesburg to Perth was full of golfers and caddies. One of the players ended up being met by two Department of Protective Service officers on arrival in the West Australian capital due to his misbehaviour on board. Traditionally Sunday night flights after a European golf tournament back to London are loaded with golfers and caddies. Many of the participants could have played early on the Sunday morning and have all afternoon to wait for their flight home. So in order to wind down after a week's competition they may have a few relaxing ales.

Wayne Riley is filled with a certain amount of angst every time he boards a plane. Riley, like so many with similar fears, drinks alcohol to reduce his anxiety before flights. By the time the plane was cruising over the Indian Ocean Riley's spirits were equally as elevated. He clumsily knocked a woman in the seat in front and got into a heated argument with a couple of non-golf related passengers.

Long uncomfortable flights in a seat down the back is the reality of world travel for the majority of touring pros. Images of private jets and limousines are the luxuries afforded the privileged few. The European Tour boss Ken Schofield was on the same flight but in an area that these sort of disturbances don't reach. Despite not being put out by the confrontation involving one of his representatives he is now left to deal with the aftermath which will undoubtedly involve at least an admonishment and at worst a heavy fine for Riley.

It's one of those situations that requires delicate handling by the Tour. If they are seen to be too lenient or complacent by the public then the Tour could suffer some unnecessarily bad publicity. If they punish Riley in a way that he feels is unjustified, we may be in for a litigious summer.

As if one public misdemeanour wasn't enough for Tour officials to deal with in a week, Brett Ogle the ex-US Tour player turned commentator and now out playing again, gave the local tour a disciplinary problem to deal with during the course of play here last Thursday.

Irked at his tee-shot on the 16th, Ogle vented his anger on the nearest target possible which happened to be the plastic tee marker. As the marker shattered one of the shards pierced a female spectator just below her left eye. Fortunately the woman was shocked but not seriously injured. Unfortunately it was the woman's first visit to a golf tournament. It will probably be her last due to her unfortunate introduction to professional golf. More disciplinary decisions required for the Australian Tour without the problem of indirect association involved with the European Tours' dilemma over the Riley incident (Ogle's infringement happened at the event).

Roger Wessels was disqualified from the event on Sunday, lying seventh after the third round. His offence was that he failed to replace his ball to its original position on the 18th green after his playing partner Robert Karlsson asked him to move his coin as it was on his intended line.

Wessels paid a heavy price for a relatively minor infringement, but of course the rules in golf are sacred and must be observed and protected no matter how trivial they may appear to an outsider. I wonder will the European Tour adopt a similar position regarding its reputation when it comes to administering a punishment that befits the crime of one of its members at 35,000 feet over the Indian Ocean last week?