What began as a tongue-in-cheek remark has now ended with the door slammed shut on the likelihood of Michael Campbell ever competing in the Ryder Cup golf tournament.
In October Campbell, who was competing in the season-ending Volvo Masters, had just been awarded lifetime membership of the European Tour.
He
stood at the back of Valderrama's 18th green waiting to be interviewed by Sky TV when he made the remark "Prime Minister Tony Blair should also give me British citizenship".
Campbell's comment were seized on by journalists wondering if New Zealand's US Open champion would like to compete in the Ryder Cup if granted British citizenship.
Campbell, who has traced relatives back to Scotland and has a son born in England, agreed he would.
But Ryder Cup officials have now confirmed they are not prepared to alter their playing qualifications to make room for the New Zealander or any other non-European born golfer to compete in the competition played every two years.
Officials fear any move would open the floodgates for other British-based stars like South African Ernie Els and Australia's Adam Scott.
Ryder Cup director Richard Hills said last weekend in London:
"Although Michael has been an outstanding member of the European Tour and a great supporter of it we don't feel this is something we can push."
Hills' comments come despite precedents set in other British sports, including South Africans Allan Lamb and Robin Smith who represented England in test cricket and Canadian-born Greg Rudeski who continues to represent Britain in the Davis Cup tennis.
Team qualifications were laid down in 1979 when the Ryder Cup switched from being a British and Irish side tackling the Americans to a full European team.
"It was looked at again in the early '80s when Zimbabwe's Nick Price suggested he would like to represent Europe but he had to be ruled out," Hills said.
"The qualification is quite clear. To play in the Ryder Cup a player has to have either been born in Europe or hold a European nationality.
"The fact is that Michael Campbell has played two or three President's Cups for the Rest of the World and appeared for New Zealand in the Eisenhower Trophy.
"So it's just not something we believe should be imposed on the US Ryder Cup team."
- NZPA
