The things that former Ryder Cup captains like Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin never had to put up with… back then, phones still had cords on them and a majority of mail still required postage stamps. Of course, compared to today, those were primitive times.
We’ve come a long way since then. Two decades ago, a shopper looking for an iPad would’ve most likely begun their search in the feminine hygiene aisle. And Blackberries were near the bananas in the produce department. But along came a fellow by the name of Bill Gates, and the world as we knew it would change seemingly overnight….
Two of professional golf’s more esteemed tweeting stalwarts, Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter, will certainly be impacted by the rule. Cink recently tweeted on his twitter account, “We’re finally off to Wales!! Won’t be tweeting until we get back. I guess I’ll have to pass the down time actually reading or something.” Poulter hasn’t said anything about the issue on his Twitter account, which leads me to believe that either (a)he’s not acknowledging it, or (b)he’s putting on his game face and will completely comply with the request from Captain Monty. As someone who follows both of these guys on Twitter myself, I can attest that they’re easily the two most active tweeters in pro golf, and it will be unusual to log in and see no comments from either of them over the weekend.
The esteemed 2008 Ryder Cup captain and noted Twitter newbie, Paul Azinger, tweeted Sunday on the decision to ban social networking sites from the players starting Friday as well. “U.S team will be better off without distraction and comments on twitter. If forced, bad idea. If it’s a consensus, good idea. Press will ask.” But, of course, Azinger will fill the tweeting void while they’re offline, as he has made it a point to say that he will be tweeting his perspective of things throughout the event. As someone who follows Zinger as well on Twitter, I can’t wait to get his tweets on things this weekend.
We live in a different time and place, it seems, and I’ve certainly become a party to it….
Scott's Golf Blog 
Maybe it is me, but I just cannot bring myself to “tweet”
But seriously, if it is not bothering anyone and it does not impact either play or the pace thereof, does it really matter if Cink does or does not.
My opinion, it is just the captains displaying that they are in charge…
I think that the ulterior motive is taking every precautionary measure available to them to ensure that nothing negative, or anything that could even be remotely perceived as negative, creates a unneeded controversy in what has had a reputation of being a “highly charged atmosphere” type event.
Ultimately I agree with Zinger. It’s not a bad idea as long as the players don’t have an issue with it. If the player’s see it differently, then I think that they’re adults who assume responsibility for their actions and should be held accountable.
I really do see both sides of the argument here. No one wants the bitterness and controversy to return to this event, although I will freely admit that it was quite more interesting to watch (as a fan) when the two sides hated each other. ; )