BOO Weekley has apologised for whipping the crowd into a frenzy as America took a 5-2 first-day lead at the Ryder Cup in Kentucky.
Opponent Lee Westwood criticised Weekley's behaviour during their fourball clash, which ended in a half after Weekley and partner JB Holmes both found water on the final hole.
"You walk a fine line when you start doing that sort of thing," said We
stwood, whose two halved matches enabled him to tie Arnold Palmer's record 12-game unbeaten run in cup history.
"I don't mind the arm-waving, but at least wait until you are walking off greens, not when it comes between shots. On the 12th hole, when Boo holed it from off the green, I've still got a putt for a half. There's no need to do it between the shots.
"It was interrupting the flow of play and the game was slow enough as it was. I didn't say anything to him – it's not my job to tell the people how to behave – but it gave me a more burning desire to win some holes."
Ian Poulter, who with Justin Rose in the afternoon fourballs defeated Ben Curtis and Steve Stricker for Europe's only victory of the day, was asked whether he had witnessed anything similar to Westwood. "It was close to the mark – I think everybody can see it was a little close to the mark at times."
Weekley, making his Ryder Cup debut and playing alongside Kentucky native Holmes, said: "I didn't mean to (cross the line] if I did. You can't control the crowd but at the same time we were trying to keep them positive and keep us positive."
Weekley, who has often said he prefers hunting and fishing to competing on the golf course, had earlier been unapologetic about stirring up the fans, which included former NBA player Michael Jordan.
"I really don't care if I did," Weekley said. "They do the same over there, from what I've heard. So why not?
"I'm not there to make him mad or aggravate him but I want everybody here to enjoy what we got going on, and I want them to pull for us and holler. As long as they are quiet when they hit their shots it shouldn't matter."
Weekley was serenaded by the crowd with resounding, affectionate 'boos' after his good shots.
European captain Nick Faldo insisted he had no problem with the American players trying to whip up the crowd; Azinger and his team held a "pep" rally in downtown Louisville on Thursday evening to encourage fans to be their "13th man".
"This is America, you're rallying your troops," Faldo said. "We heard that you're out in the streets of Louisville running up the 13th man. That's fine."
One area Faldo would like to see addressed is the need for both captains to submit their afternoon pairings while the morning matches are still in progress.
Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson were three up with six to play before being pegged back by Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, while Ian Poulter and Justin Rose let slip a three-hole lead against Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell – both matches potentially crucial to Faldo's thinking for the afternoon.
"It's a very, very difficult moment to have to put them in an hour before play," Faldo admitted. "Paul and I both commented on that yesterday and we are in the same boat.
"There's so many tough decisions to make for the captains so maybe that one could be reviewed to make things a little bit easier."
The full article contains 612 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
