The Europe and United States Ryder Cup teams have been banned from tweeting until after the end of the tournament.

Both US captain Corey Pavin and his counterpart Colin Montgomerie, who said tweeting could cause "trouble", confirmed their decision on Monday.

Four players in Europe's team and five from the US side actively use Twitter.

"Tweeting and social network sites can get one into trouble," said Montgomerie ahead of the Ryder Cup which begins at Celtic Manor on Friday.

The European players who will have to refrain from posting their thoughts on the micro-blogging website are US Open winner Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari.

The players from the US team that tweet include Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson.

The ban appears to have not come into effect yet, with McDowell, McIlroy and Poulter among the golfers still tweeting.

McDowell and McIlroy have also been uploading photos of each other on McDowell's plane on the way to Cardiff onto their Twitter pages.

Recently, cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Dimitri Mascarenhas were both fined for rants on Twitter.

Footballers Jozy Altidore and Darren Bent have also been in trouble for ill-advised public comments, while swimmer Stephanie Rice lost a sponsorship deal and was forced to make a public apology for an allegedly homophobic comment on Twitter.

"The team has come to a consensus not to do it," said fellow tweeter Pavin on the temporary ban.

"It can be a little bit distracting sometimes, and I think it is important to focus on the Ryder Cup and playing in the matches.

"We've decided to not tweet this week, but a week today I am sure tweeting will be all over the place."

Montgomerie added: "It's not a ban as such, we've just asked the players not to and they agreed."Pietersen's error led me to change my view on players tweeting."

Both captains were speaking during the two news conferences following the arrival of the US team in Cardiff on Monday.

Europe are odds-on with some bookmakers to regain the Ryder Cup, but Montgomerie does not believe the contest will be one-sided.

"These matches will be closely contested as they always are," added the Scot.

"It will probably come down to a Sunday putt and that's the beauty of this Ryder Cup.

"It will be extremely tight, extremely close, and that's great for the event."

When asked why he opted not to take advantage of his right to alter the course to suit the Europe team, Montgomerie said that Celtic Manor already favoured his men.

"If, as has been said, it's a European Tour set-up then it's to our advantage," he added.

"Our players will be used to the pace of the greens. This is a course where a good shot will be rewarded and a bad shot penalised."

Earlier, Montgomerie had welcomed world number one Tiger Woods and the rest of the US team as they got off the plane in Cardiff.

The 47-year-old expressed his delight that Woods had been given a wildcard, following a poor season which has seen the world number one fail to win an event.

"I've always said that Tiger is the best player in the world, and in my opinion the best player that has ever played the game," said the Europe captai

"I am delighted to see Tiger here. We welcome with open arms. It is the first time he will have played golf in Wales as a professional, and we just look forward to seeing him play.

"A lot has been written about Tiger's performances in the Ryder Cup. It's just that it is poorer than of course his individual record, which is extreme.

"We look forward to seeing how Tiger is going to be playing and who he is going to be playing with, and seeing how we can counteract that, I suppose.

"It's great that he is part of the team, and I congratulate Corey on his selection."

The skipper also allayed fears over the fitness of Europe player Lee Westwood.

The world number three has not played since the Bridgestone Invitational seven weeks ago because of a leg injury.

"Lee played 36 holes in a day over the weekend and can cope," said Montgomerie.

Sweden's Peter Hanson, who pulled out of last weekend's Vivendi Cup with a chest infection, is also set to be fully fit for the three-day contest.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/9036588.stm