Pain in the neck for unlucky Walton

PHILIP WALTON'S good start to the Ryder Cup qualifying campaign could be cut short in Crans sur Sierre because of a neck injury. The Malahide professional yesterday had to withdraw after nine holes of the pro am curtain raiser to the European Masters on the Alpine course because it was too painful for him to continue.

"If my neck is as sore in the morning I will have to pull out," said Walton, who got his personal bandwagon moving well in last week's British Masters despite the atrocious greens. Walton won £12,751 for sharing ninth place with Colin Montgomerie, and yesterday he learnt of a surprise bonus Along with all the other 155 tour members who started the event at Northampton, he is to have his entry feed refunded.

Walton was given the news and an apology from the Tour's hierarchy when he arrived at this venue which has spectacular scenery, some 5,000 feet above the Rhone Valley. The top prize on offer is almost £128,000.

European Tour Executive Director Ken Schofield has personally apologised to all competitors, as well as dipping into the Tour's fund. He and John Paramor, the Tour's Director of Operations, have also begun a full scale investigation into the fiasco at Collingtree Park, one of the Tour's portfolio of courses part owned with the International Management Group, to ascertain the cause of the "drastic disintegration" of the greens.

Their condition led to widespread complaints, a declaration from Ian Woosnam that they were the worst he had ever putted on in his professional career, and a total of 13 players quitting the event in the first two rounds.

The post mortem has involved the collection of soil samples which have been sent for laboratory testing to establish exactly what substances were applied to the putting surfaces in the three week period immediately prior to the tournament, which began on Wednesday August 28th.

Officials hope to have obtained a judgement from the analysts in time for a mass meeting of players, requested by Seve, Ballesteros, and scheduled to be held on the eve of next week's Lancome Trophy in Paris.

Schofield has told every professional at Crans sur Sierre that he shares their "justifiable frustration, concern, and sheer embarrassment at a situation which saw us reach the lowest ebb in my experience.

"Please accept my personal, unreserved apologies for the unacceptable presentation of the Collingtree ETC greens," he said in a letter yesterday. "May I assure you a detailed investigation is under way in an endeavour to find out what caused the drastic disintegration of the greens in the past three weeks.

"In the meantime in a sad reflection of this unfortunate experience I have instructed the accounts department to credit your Masters entry fee against a future tournament of your choice."

Schofield yesterday refused to comment on suggestions that the wrong type of fertiliser had been applied to the greens in the period immediately prior to the British Masters tournament. "It would be wrong to speculate on the cause of the problem," he said. "But when our Tour staff inspected them on August 5th we were satisfied that they were in a better condition than the previous year, or when the Seniors Classic was held there at the end of June."

There are likely to be few complaints from the ranks for this week's event, for Ballesteros has been responsible for a toughening of the lay out which doubles as a skiing nursery during the winter months. As well as reshaping some greens and creating additional fairway bunkers, he has shortened the par four 16th to a "long" par three of 235 yards, requiring a three wood or three iron, depending on the direction of the wind. The course par has been reduced, accordingly, to 71.

It proved no big obstacle to Darren Clarke who scorched to a 64 in the pro am which augurs well for the fresh start he hopes to make in the Ryder stakes this week. "I did not want to miss the halfway cut in Collingtree," he said, "but on reflection it wasn't a bad thing not to be there."

Paul McGinley is taking a rest, but Padraig Harrington, another to miss the cut last week, has made the trip along with Raymond Burns, Ronan Rafferty, Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy.

It is also an important week for Waterville's David Higgins and Milltown's Francis Howley, who are both aiming to secure their Tour cards.

Higgins is the best placed needing another £3,000 to be sure of being on the 1997 circuit. Howley has a more difficult task, requiring around £20,000 to secure his future. But Crans is noted for surprises, and with a prize fund of £768,000 there is ample scope to achieve his goal. A top seven place would suffice.

Montgomerie's target is to return to the bead of the money list in place of the resting Ian Woosnam, with Australian Robert Allenby, in third position.