Briton shows a stiff upper lip

Golf

The trouble with the modern British sportsman, so the revellers in nostalgia say, is that they lack commitment and guts; they are soft; they have it far too easy.

In Bangkok, a Dubai-based English golfer showed a British stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and came out on top in the Asian Classic. Lee Petters, playing his first tournament as a full-time professional, was flattened on the 14th when hit by the backswing of his Pakistani playing partner, Shakeep Hussain. His nose was split open and he lay on the ground for five minutes filling three towels with blood, but the 26-year-old got up to birdie the par-five hole.

When Petters eventually walked off the final green, he had a six-under- par 66 on his card. That was two strokes better than the experienced American Curtis Strange and four better than Tiger Woods.

Petters, of the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, had no thoughts of throwing in the towel. He said: "The doctor said I had to go off to get the wound stitched but being four under for my round at the time there was no way I was going to leave."

Whether he wins or loses, at least he has shown the right sort of British sporting spirit.

Scores, Digest, page 25