THE CAPTAINS of the European and United States Ryder Cup teams have banned their players from using Twitter until after the end of the tournament.

At a joint press conference in Cardiff Airport after the American team arrived in Wales, US captain Corey Pavin said that his team “has come to a consensus not to do that… It can be a little bit distracting sometimes. I think it’s important to focus on the Ryder Cup and playing in matches.”

European captain Colin Montgomerie added that “not being a Tweeter myself, we feel that tweeting and Facebook and all these social sites can get oneself into trouble.”

The ban will affect four Europeans and five Americans who regularly use the site; the Europeans include Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell as well as Francesco Molinari and Ian Poulter.

American users include Bubba Watson, Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan.

Last night Poulter had posted a video of the scene outside the Celtic Manor Resort after the hotel had been evacuated in a fire scare, though his video appears to have been deleted; the BBC reports that his video, posted after the alarm went off at 12:40am this morning, had accrued 4,000 views by noon.

The tournament begins on Friday.