tournament controversy, has switched from player to cheerleader.

Unable to swing a club since reinjuring his left hand in the Belmont Invitational Pro-Am last week, Whalley and his amateur team-mates from the Meadow Brook Golf Club in Reading, Massachusetts were in danger of missing out on this week's Goodwill tournament when organisers ruled that the team couldn't substitute another professional.

But while unable to recruit another pro, Meadow Brook managed to overcome the problem by flying in scratch handicapper Steve Bassett, who has led the team this week, with Whalley accompanying the quartet as non-playing captain.

But not even Bassett could help the team from slipping to a net 64 at Port Royal yesterday, leaving them seven strokes off the pace with rounds at Belmont and Mid Ocean to come.