Another player, the Swede Peter Heblom, suffered a four-stroke penalty, for starting out with an extra club in his bag, an error discovered on the third.. He said: "Every member of the tour was sent a memo containing the new guidelines on slow play before Christmas and were informed again on the noticeboard this week and on the first tee."Players are now timed without being warned and if they have one bad time they're told that one more breach will be penalised."Burns, already four over par after eight holes, was docked a shot on the ninth, while Westner, having turned in two over, was immediately told of his costly transgression on the 10th. "There has never been any question in my life of me being a slow player. This is just unbelievable," he said.The chief referee, John Paramor, is determined to act, however. While the defending champion, Ernie Els, the Dane Thomas Bjorn, German Alexander Cejka and Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng shot five-under-par 67s to share the lead, Westner returned a 79 and Burns an 82. Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood were timed as well after falling behind the group ahead, but avoided a penalty as they both scored 71, one better than the world No 1, Tiger Woods, and two better than the 1996 winner, Ian Woosnam.Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman - neither playing this week - were among those who called for tougher action on slow play last year, throughout which just one player was penalised a shot Burns, however, was "horrified" at being labelled a snail. Raymond Burns and South African's Wayne Westner were both penalised a shot and fined pounds 500 at the Johnnie Walker Classic here yesterday as the European Tour began the season with a crackdown on slow play, Burns for taking 12 seconds too long to play a stroke and Westner 51 seconds It did not affect the leaderboard. The 26-year-old 13th seed was fined $4,000 (pounds 2,600) for a four letter expletive.

He was fined $5,000 earlier for not attending the post-match press conference. Grand Slam officials also fined American Jeff Tarango $3,000 for an outburst at the umpire during his first-round defeat by Rafter.. It's a good win because I have not really re-established myself against the seeded players again. It was good to remind myself what makes me better than some people I play against."In the women's singles, Martina Hingis, the holder, overcame a first- set lapse, when she lost five games in a row, to beat Germany's Barbara Rittner 7-5, 6-1.Goran Ivansevic has been fined a second time for misconduct during his first-round defeat at the Australian Open, meaning he has now lost his entire championship earnings. "It's great to be able to get back and kick some butt again," Agassi said "That was a very significant victory for me. I thought I returned well, I passed well and I couldn't ask to serve any better than I did today. Those three aspects and being sharp overall made it a very satisfying day."Stark, unable to use any inside knowledge gleaned from his new coach, Brian Teacher, who was sacked by Rusedski after the US Open, believes his conqueror is a real title challenger."Greg's serve is dangerous anywhere, but here it's even more so because it bounces higher," Stark said.Rusedski will next meet Australian Todd Woodbridge in the third round after the doubles specialist came through in four sets against Christophe Van Garsse, of Belgium.Chang, Rusedski's potential quarter-final opponent, lost in straight sets to France's Guillaume Raoux whose compatriot, Nicolas Escude, knocked out Brazil's Kuerten in four.Rafter survived in five sets against old campaigner Todd Martin, runner- up in Australia in 1994, after a tiring battle on a centre court where temperatures went up to the high 30s.But also looming as a possible opponent in the last four is the 1995 champion, Andre Agassi, who knocked out the No 16 seed, Albert Costa, in four sets.Agassi, making a comeback after an injury which has sent his world ranking plummeting, won 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to leave only Rusedski, Rafter and Marcelo Rios, of Chile, as the only seeded players remaining in the bottom half of the draw.Agassi now plays Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi with Rafter his likely opponent if he comes through that match.

I think I'm playing better now than I was at the US Open - I'm feeling just as relaxed and feeling confident. I enjoyed their songs today - it was good fun."But I was pleased with the way I played. "When people chant like that for you in the crowds I think they deserve a little bit of a signature. He was called into Ireland's squad for next Wednesday's pre-Five Nations training session and is clear favourite to start the match with Scotland in Dublin on 7 February.. Greg Rusedski moved into the third round of the Australian Open yesterday, and with seeds dropping by the wayside, Derrick Whyte, reporting from Melbourne, believes the Briton has a great opportunity to reach his second Grand Slam final. As long as the English recognise that there are six nations involved here, not just one, I see no reason why an agreement cannot be reached."Meanwhile, the downtrodden burghers of Bristol received another body blow to their morale yesterday as David Tiueti, their Tongan international wing, was put on the transfer list. Greg Rusedski's Australian Open bandwagon gathered pace in Melbourne yesterday as he was given a clear sight of a second successive Grand Slam final appearance. The No 5 seed marched into the third round with a comfortable victory over Jonathan Stark, who was forced to retire with a knee injury when trailing 6-4, 6-4, 1-0.Rusedski then discovered he cannot now meet another seed until the semi- final stage after the No 3 seed, Michael Chang, and Gustavo Kuerten, ranked 12 and the French Open champion, both lost.Only Patrick Rafter, the No 2 seed who beat him in the US Open final last year, stands in his way in a possible semi-final match and the Australian's progress so far has been anything but smooth.Rusedski fired down 14 aces in battering Stark, who was struggling with a long-standing knee injury that needed treatment in the second set.The 24-year-old Montreal native was even able to banter with a group of fans who had turned a section of court three, graveyard of Tim Henman's title hopes two days ago, into a home from home.Around 30 spectators, who had gathered to watch, adapted football songs to spur on Rusedski "I was having a little bit of a laugh," Rusedski said.

"We have been advised by his agent that David is unhappy and is looking for more money," said Fred Howard, rugby manager of the relegation-threatened West Country club. "We are not able to comply with that request and we don't want anyone within the club who is not happy."There was better news for David Corkery, the Bristol flanker. "Given that we thought we had unanimous agreement on next season's fixtures, we're really not sure what the problem is. We talk to different people in England and get different messages as to what the issues actually are."If the English clubs refuse to talk to us, how can we reach a solution? We've always been, and always will be, willing to sit down and discuss any issue under the sun. "The Heineken has been a tremendous tournament, an important one in our development as a rugby- playing country Yes, I will be taking something to the table. Yes, I am hopeful that progress can be made."Quite what that "something" is remains to be seen. There is little doubt that the board, under the chairmanship of Ireland's Tom Kiernan, will go the extra mile in attempting to keep the English on board.

Without the likes of Bath and Leicester, broadcasters will be none too keen on buying into the competition. "I'll be attempting to negotiate something that will bring the English clubs back from the brink."At least Beaumont is travelling across the Irish Sea in optimistic mood. Without broadcasters, the ERC will not have a tournament worthy of the name."It's a difficult situation to assess," said Roger Pickering, the tournament director. "I'm coming at this from the point of view of the players and I want to find a settlement for their sakes," he said. The English clubs, infuriated by next season's fixture schedule and exasperated by what they describe as the "Celtic veto" wielded by delegates from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, are deadly serious in their boycott threat.Indeed, the clubs will not be represented at the negotiating table today; only Bill Beaumont, a Rugby Football Union nominee, will be present to play the English card in an effort to square what many see as an unsquareable circle "I'll be on my own," he admitted yesterday. They had better find out without further delay because as things stand, Brive and Bath will be conducting a wake as well as a final in eight days' time. Today's ERC meeting in Dublin was originally planned as a brief, convivial get-together to rubber-stamp arrangements for the climax to another compelling Heineken series It has since taken on a darker hue.