Other golf news in brief

Allenby sure in the groove early

ROBERT ALLENBY – who assumed the first-round lead here with a stunning 65 – is ahead of the posse in more ways than one, having decided this week to use clubs which adhere to the new groove regulations that don’t come into force in 2010.

The logic for Allenby going to the new clubs over a month ahead of schedule was, it appears, taken on a whim after arriving home to Florida from the HSBC Champions to find the new TaylorMade irons at his house.

“I got home from the HSBC, they were sitting there. I hit them once on the range and I was like, ‘oh, will I, or won’t I?’ and, then, I just left them in the box until Sunday morning.

“I thought, ‘oh, b*******s, I’ll get them out and hit them again’ and I really like the way they felt and really liked the trajectory, the way the ball was coming off the clubface.”

Darts and pool the Maybin warm up

ROOKIE Gareth Maybin had an unusual preparation for the European Tour’s season-ending money fest when he was left with a month’s free time on his hands after failing to get into either the Singapore Open or the Hong Kong Open . . . he spent his time play darts and pool for a couple of pub teams in his home town of Ballyclare.

“I still feel a little rusty, but I’ve got three more days to put it right,” claimed Maybin.

Dubai caddies happy to go with their designer threads

LUXURY clothing company Ralph Lauren came up with what seemed like a nice concept to kit out all of the caddies at the Dubai World Championship this week with specially designed outfits that feature polo tops – with their player’s name and country’s flag on the back – and trendy chinos.

And while the vast majority of caddies gladly accepted this new concept in sponsorship, seven – out of 58 – broke ranks and refused to wear the commissioned outfits, with Sergio Garcia’s bagman Gary Matthews one of those refusing to play ball.

“We have a contract with Adidas TaylorMade which we cannot breach,” said Garcia of the reason why his caddie didn’t comply.

However, most caddies – pointing out that they must wear boiler suits and green baseball caps when lugging bags on the fairways of Augusta National – embraced the opportunity to become clothes horses.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea, I don’t see what the problem is and why certain people are moaning. It’s pathetic” said Phil “Wobbly” Moreby, caddie to Soren Hansen.