Tour to Co-operate With Players' Audit Demands

The European Tour has promised to respond "positively" to players' demands to have its finances examined by an independent auditor.

A letter signed by around 60 players, including Severiano Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, was sent to Ken Schofield, the Tour's executive director, asking that Andersen Consulting be allowed to conduct the examination.

"We responded positively to this request by seeking not only the identity of the independent auditor but also a suitable date for a meeting," said Mitchell Platts, the European Tour's director of communications and public relations.

An earlier report suggested that an initial approach by a handful of leading lights had been rejected by the Tour on the grounds that there were not enough signatories to the petition. But Platts added: "We categorically deny that we gave any indication that we would deny reasonable access to the books."

Issues that players want resolved include the level of staffing by the European Tour, where the cash bonanza from the Ryder Cup has been distributed, and whether the European Tour is too British in its bias.

Of even greater concern is where Europe's top players will compete in the future in the light of the increasingly lucrative purses on offer in the United States. America's PGA Tour is aiming for a minimum prize fund of $3 million per tournament within the next year while many European Tour events only offer a fraction of that.

Scholfield said it would be found that the Ryder Cup does not leave the Tour "swimming in the kind of money that has been suggested. It is, however, the lever that has helped all of Europe's tournaments.

"My recommendation to the Board will be that we take this forward and provide everything except that which in normal business practice is confidential. We are happy to comply with the request. In my view, our system of accountancy will stand the test of any European sport."

Another of the players' requests is for an emergency general meeting, but Schofield added: "I can't quite work out why they are calling for that."

Colin Montgomerie is the only big name who has refused to join the demand for a more detailed look into how the Tour has been run over the last 20 years than is generally disclosed in its annual reports.

But Olazabal said the players were not suggesting there had been any misconduct. "We just want to know where the money is going and where it has been spent. It's as simple as that. This is a big company now."