Lee fans the flames for more Brit awards
Kyrgios. “I will use this time off to improve on and off the court.
“I am truly sorry and look forward to returning in 2017.”
While Kyrgios is out of the season-ending ATP finals, Johanna Konta has received a lifeline into the WTA edition after world No 1 Serena Williams was forced to withdraw with a shoulder problem.
Konta’s participation in Singapore still hinges on her own fitness – she pulled out of last week’s Hong Kong Open with an abdominal injury – and whether Carla Suarez Navarro or Svetlana Kuznetsova win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow this week. LUKE DONALD believes the success of the British Masters can trigger a reversal in the decline of tournament golf in England.
Donald, the host at the Grove, cited an attendance of more than 110,000 over the two years since its revival as evidence there is an appetite for more big events.
There are just two Englandbased European Tour events but Donald is optimistic there is scope for more alongside May’s BMW PGA Championship and the British Masters.
“It’s nice that we got this one back on the rota and it has been very successful, so hopefully that will lead to more tournaments down the road,” said Donald.
“At one point we did have quite a few here. They are always well attended. The British fans are so knowledgeable about the game and they love coming out and supporting, so there is room to create more playing opportunities in the UK.”
Economics, as ever, will be the decisive factor but fan footfall is NORTH FACE: Lee Westwood wants more events in the UK in England’s favour. The British Masters will move on to Close House near Newcastle next year where Lee Westwood, who takes over the hosting duties, hopes the take-up will be even stronger from fans starved of live Tour action since the demise of the Great North Open at Slaley Hall in 2002.
“We missing tournament the north are a in of England. Between Scotland and London there’s nothing, so it would be nice for the fans in the north not to have to travel too far to see world-class golf,” said Westwood. Last week’s edition saw a series of experimental innovations, the most successful of which was a floodlit one-hole challenge which European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley wants to roll out on a wider scale. Walton Heath in Surrey is favourite to stage the British Masters when Justin Rose assumes the hosting duties in 2018. PAUL CASEY is No12 in the world rankings after a fourth successive top-four finish, this time taking third place behind winner Brendan Steele at the Safeway Open in California.