Golf: Concorde caddies fight on

THE 12 caddies who have been told they will not be flying with the European team on Concorde to the Ryder Cup yesterday had Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke fighting their corner.

Westwood and Clarke have still not had a reply to a letter of protest sent to the European Ryder Cup committee two weeks ago, which demanded that the caddies accompany the players on the supersonic airliner to Brookline, near Boston, later this month, just as they did for the 1995 match against the United States in Oakhill, New York.

"We consider the caddies a valuable part of the team and they should travel with the team as they have done before," Westwood said. "Our big advantage has always been team spirit and we are now in danger of losing some of that."

Richard Hills, the Ryder Cup committee director, yesterday refused to comment on why the caddies had been overlooked. One reason may be that the 1995 team travelled on a specially-chartered Concorde, whereas this time a scheduled flight has been arranged.