Marc Warren to quit Twitter over Old Firm trolls

Golfer Marc Warren: Ready to quit Twitter. Picture: Getty

Warren, a two-time European Tour winner who also joined forces with Colin Montgomerie to record Scotland’s first-ever World Cup success, makes no secret of the fact he supports Rangers and has used social networking to comment on football matters.

However, he’s become fed up with people using Twitter to aim abuse at him and is in the process of shutting down his feed and handing the account over to his management company.

“Some of the stuff is ridiculous,” said Warren in the build-up to this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where all 12 members of last year’s winning European Ryder Cup team are being reunited along with their captain, Jose Maria Olazabal.

“I don’t know if it’s jealousy. But some are just abusive and it’s not just Scottish people.”

Warren admitted the abuse was particularly bad after he let a winning position slip in last summer’s Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, claiming the Old Firm trolls really stuck the boot into him then.

“The Rangers/Celtic thing raises its ugly head every single time,” he added. “People saying ‘I wanted you to win until I found out you are a hun’, all that sort of stuff.

“I’m actually thinking right now of just handing my Twitter account to Champions UK, my management company, and let them run it because it’s not worth me putting up with all that stuff.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’ve probably brought some of that stuff upon myself by putting a bit of banter on Twitter, Rangers or Celtic, or whatever it may be.

“But it’s never been in a hatred sort of way. It’s just who I am and, if people get back to me and it starts to get personal and kind of hate-filled then I’m just not interested.”

Most of the world’s leading golfers have Twitter accounts, though Paul Lawrie closed his for a spell and Lee Westwood threatened to do likewise around a year ago due to the amount of abuse directed at him and fellow golfers on the social networking site. “It’s losing its meaning,” said the Englishman. “It’s social media, not social slagging. It seems to have turned into that for some people.”

Sitting beside Warren as he made his comments, Scott Jamieson sympathised with his compatriot, saying: “It happens to everyone now. That’s the problem with social network. People sit in front of a screen and put anything on it.”

Warren admitted it would be disappointing to lose touch with his genuine Twitter followers at a time when he has just been appointed as an ambassador for Help for Heroes.

“Twitter is good in that you can do things, be pro-active, especially now I have been asked to join Help for Heroes, which is an honour,” said the 32-year-old.

“I said ‘yes’ straight away and will carry the logo on my golf bag from Wentworth onwards.It’s unbelievable what our soldiers do and that was hammered home when three Scottish

soldiers were killed recently.”