His season has not yet really started but Els has already won

His season has not yet really started but Els has already won twice, last week at Doral and last month at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne.”It’s been a good start on both tours and I want to build on that,” Els said. “I have put in a lot of work on my game in the last six to eight months and I’m now reaping the rewards. I am trying to be a bit more intense on the course, but otherwise when I’ve had enough I’ll take a break. I’m not going to go through the pain barrier as I have done in the past.”Thomas Bjorn, the defending champion after beating Woods last year, has again wintered in Dubai, but only started hitting ball two weeks ago after another neck injury.

Sam Torrance, the Ryder Cup captain, is also appearing for the first time this season after a knee operation.. The Solheim Cup women’s match is to switch to odd-numbered years after this season to avoid any more clashes with the Ryder Cup. In keeping with the two-year qualification countdown for the seven automatic team places, this season’s Evian Tour will carry two rankings – one for the September match and the other for 2003.”The move has been made to ensure the flagship team event in women’s golf retains its prominent position in the sporting calendar,” said Richard Relton, the European director for the event. “Given the huge public, television and commercial interest it now generates, it is appropriate that the match is not played in the same month as the Ryder Cup.”The move to 2003 and the odd years going forward will help us address all the issues and, importantly, we also move away from the Olympic Games and the Euro 2004 football championships.”The Swedes have taken the Solheim Cup to heart. They are looking not only to make a major success of the tournament itself, but leave a legacy for women’s golf in the whole of Scandinavia.”.

St Helens have applied for planning permission for a new all-seat stadium to replace their present home at Knowsley Road. A similar application on land nearby has already been turned down, but the club hopes to succeed this time and to start building before the end of the year.Meanwhile, Bradford are considering a surprise return to their old home at Odsal. Plans for a rebuilt ground and retail development at Odsal have been referred to a public inquiry and the Bulls could now return to the old ground next season.Their contract with Bradford City for the use of Valley Parade only covers this year and the club is looking into the possibility of patching up Odsal for a temporary return until the government makes up its mind.The Bulls have continued to train at Odsal, where the stands and terraces are still in usable condition. Other facilities, like bars and restaurants, have deteriorated in the year since they stopped using it for matches and it could cost £3 million to bring it back up to standard.Swinton have agreed in principle with their neighbours Salford, to play games there this summer while Gigg Lane, the ground they share with Bury, is being re-seeded.The Northern Ford Premiership club has had previous overtures to move into The Willows rejected by Salford. “They will have us for these games and I hope it might turn into something more permanent, because it is the only logical place to play,” said the Swinton chief executive, Tony Barrow.The uncertain future of the host football club has made Swinton’s tenure at a ground they moved into more than a decade ago look particularly insecure and their fans have appealed to Salford to take them in.The Melbourne Storm’s two new English recruits, Keith Mason from Wakefield and Ian Sibbit from Warrington, have been rewarded with places in the first team squad for the forthcoming Australian season.. David Pannick, QC and judge, did a pretty good job of clearing up the Martin Johnson mess, though inevitably some will see his work as less than Solomonesque.