PRESS BOX: Westwood sorry for Twitter rants
Lee Westwood apologized Monday for using Twitter to vent frustrations after shooting a 76 at the PGA Championship.
Westwood fired off a series of tweets early Monday morning aimed at those who criticized him after he finished 13 shots behind tournament winner Jason Dufner. Westwood had started the final round within six shots of the lead.
Westwood started off at 4:11 a.m. ET by tweeting that he was tired of "sitting there taking it. Bring it on." He then wrote that he had not "chewed up a troll for a good while."
It was part of a 50-tweet session that included reflections, insults and profanities.
Nearly eight hours later, he used Twitter to apologize to his sponsors and followers, whose number exceeds 578,000.
Westwood's official website lists 11 sponsors, including Footjoy, Ping, Titleist and UPS.
During his rant, he referred to his Twitter critics as "minions" who "need to live from the inside out rather than the outside in."
Westwood, a former No. 1 player in the world, ended his venting by clarifying that his comments were real, but he was getting bored and signing off.
At least one deleted tweet that Westwood, ranked 12th heading into the tournament, read: "Come on you girly boy trolls! I've only won just over 2 mill on course this year! Need you to keep me entertained a bit longer than this!"
NBA
The Philadelphia 76ers hired Brett Brown as their head coach on Monday, according to multiple media reports. Brown was offered the job Friday and the two sides reportedly came to an agreement after negotiating over the weekend.
Brown has been an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for the past seven years. He was the Spurs director of player development from 2002-06.
Philadelphia is in rebuilding mode after deciding not to retain Doug Collins. The 76ers finished 34-48 last season.
Auto racing
Greg Zipadelli joked that he'd have to make Austin Dillon wear a blindfold until he climbs into Tony Stewart's No. 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevrolet this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
In all seriousness, Zipadelli, the director of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing, is comfortable with the choice of the 23-year-old Dillon to substitute for Stewart, who is recovering from broken bones in his right leg sustained during a Sprint Car accident Aug. 5 in Iowa.
"I've watched Austin for many years, and at each stage of his racing career, he's been successful," Stewart said in a release announcing Dillon's selection for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400. "He's proven to be a very fast learner, and he's able to adapt quickly. "Being the youngest champion in the history of the Truck Series is proof of that."
