28 September,2010 07:07 AM IST | | AFP
European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie's crackdown on players using social networking sites during the tournament failed to make an immediate impact on Graeme McDowell.
Montgomerie and US skipper Corey Pavin revealed yesterday they have both told players taking part in the 38th Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor not to use Facebook or Twitter and to focus on golfing matters instead. But US Open champion McDowell told his Twitter 'followers': "We have a team meeting at 6pm (1700GMT), so will keep you posted on the tweeting ban. "Let's hope not!!!! Go Europe!!!!," the Northern Irishman added.
Earlier, Montgomerie revealed cricketer Kevin Pietersen's Twitter rant was behind a decision to forbid Europe's players from using social networking sites. Pietersen was fined earlier this month after using Twitter to fume about his omission from England's limited over squads. "Pietersen's error changed my view on that," Montgomerie said, insisting he hadn't "banned" Twitter.
"I've just asked my team not to, and they have said, okay, that's fine, we'll start Tweetering or Twittering, on Monday, October 4," he said.
Pavin said: "It can be a bit distracting. It's important to focus on the Ryder Cup and playing the matches. We've decided as a whole to not Tweet this week, but a week from today I am sure Tweeting will be all over the place."
