Dyson risks European Tour expulsion for Shanghai violation

By Andrew Both SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Six-time winner Simon Dyson could be expelled from the European Tour following a rules violation at last week's BMW Masters, golf officials said on Thursday. Dyson was disqualified from the event in Shanghai after TV viewers alerted officials that the Englishman had fixed a spike mark in the line of a putt. The tour announced that a disciplinary hearing would take place to decide whether further action should be taken against Dyson. "If, following the hearing, the panel decides that a breach of the code (of behavior) has been established, it shall impose a sanction that it considers appropriate having regard to the circumstances," the tour said in a statement. "Such sanctions may range from a reprimand, a censure, a fine, a suspension of Membership, a suspension from participation in one or more tournaments or for a given period, or expulsion from The European Tour, or otherwise as the panel shall determine." The panel will comprise an independent lawyer, a player and a sports administrator. Dyson has denied deliberately cheating. "I have never deliberately broken the rules either on this occasion or in the past," the 35-year-old golfer said in a statement. "It was only after I was shown the replay of my action after marking the ball on the eighth green during the second round that I realized what I had done and that I was in breach. I immediately accepted that I should be disqualified. "My action was in no way a deliberate act with the intention of breaking the rules. It was simply an accidental mistake." (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)