Golf: Worry for Woods

Tiger Woods will go looking for his first major in four weeks' time believing that the Augusta greens are dangerously close to being unfair.

Woods, who has won four events since turning professional last August, is now one of the favourites for the US Masters.

"I don't know whether the green speed is getting out of hand,'' he said yesterday. "The 11th was so fast last year (he played then as the US amateur champion) that people couldn't keep putts on the green, especially when the wind was blowing from right to left. That's borderline on getting unfair."

There is also concern for the state of the courses on the the European Tour which has had to apologise again for the condition of one of them. Players have been told there will be no fixed penalties imposed on anybody wishing to withdraw from next week's Turespana Masters in Gran Canaria.

Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal are among the entrants at Maspalomas, where seven of the greens have been damaged by fertiliser scorching. This comes only seven months after the British Masters at Collingtree Park in Northampton became infamous for its diseased greens.