Ticking timebomb at the Ryder Cup between Europe and USA watch sponsors at Hazeltine
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The golf sponsorship battle between rival watch brands is already causing conflict in Hazeltine in the build-up to the Ryder Cup.The main sensitivity is over Rolex being the official timekeeper for Ryder Cup Europe while Omega have the same status when the tournament is staged in the United States.And to further complicate matters, both Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia are Omega ambassadors and were wearing their watches for the official team photo on Tuesday while Lee Westwood, Danny Willett, Matt Fitzpatrick and Henrik Stenson are sporting their Audemars Piguet timepieces and Justin Rose wears Hublot.
This caused obvious consternation to the European Tour commercial team watching the team photo being taken. The official photographer even asked the players to keep their rival watches out of sight of the camera and captain Darren Clarke was seen telling Rose to hide his Hublot.On Monday Clarke was presented with the personally engraved Daytona Rolesor Rolex which the whole European team will receive.Ironically golfers rarely wear their lucrative watches out on the course. An exception being a certain Clarke when he wore his Audemars Piguet for one week only at Royal St George’s, Sandwich when he won the Open. Clarke’s contract as captain prevents him from wearing a rival to Rolex while on Ryder Cup duty.
Despite having another watch sponsorship, he called his new Rolex a ‘treasured item’. It didn’t seem to have dawned on Tiger Woods in Hazeltine that he was no longer a playing member of the USA Ryder Cup side when he turned up for the official team photos. Seemingly oblivious to his fellow vice-captains, who stayed on the sidelines, Woods lined up with skipper Davis Love and the 12–strong side on the back row. It was only just before the picture was taken that Woods was informed that assistant captains were not needed for that particular shot. A clearly embarrassed Tiger was heard saying: ‘Sorry, I thought I was still a player.’
Darren Clarke has bought an electronic cigarette so that he has not seen puffing away on the course.Clarke, is said to have been smoking up to 50 cigarettes a day in the stressful build-up to leading the European Ryder Cup side but thinks it will create a bad impression to be chain-smoking when the tournament starts and all eyes will be on him.So Clarke is hopeful he can use a vaporising stick without drawing too much attention to himself while still able to satisfy his craving. But back at the Sheraton Hotel in Minneapolis, where both teams are staying, Clarke has asked for a smoking area to be provided because he doesn’t want to go outside the hotel for a quick smoke and face being pestered by golf fans.
Source: Dail Mail
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