OBSTINATE BILLY DRIVEN INTO BUNKER

MASTERS chairman Billy Payne was given an uncomfortable grilling yesterday as the vexed issue of women members at Augusta National dominated his tournament-eve press conference. Payne had left himself wide open to criticism by talking of the club’s ‘painstaking’ efforts to encourage new people to play the game. It wasn’t long before the inevitable question came. And so began a gruelling 10 minutes with a whole series of questions that saw the chairman employ the twin tactics of either glaring at the questioner or obfuscating by saying the club didn’t comment on member matters. Payne was far happier talking on other matters, and revealed that preferred lies might be used for the first time at the Masters if the worst-case scenario regarding the poor weather forecast unfolds. ‘We surely would not want to have to do that and it would be a very difficult decision to make, but we are bright enough to know weather conditions could make us change our minds,’ he said. The possibility has arisen after 1.4 inches of rain were dumped on the course on Tuesday night. The storm brought down a number of trees and several bunkers were washed out. Payne said: ‘We expect them to be fully restored to competitive conditions by the end of the day thanks to our amazing team.’ He caused a laugh when he revealed that a concrete toilet for spectators to the side of the 16th hole had also been demolished. ‘We hope to have it rebuilt and up and running by the end of the day,’ he said. It was one of few moments of levity for the beleaguered chairman. ‘We can do better,’ he said at one point, during his lengthy preamble about growing the game. Indeed they can.