Perry and Romero deny using illegal clubs

Two of the world's leading golfers have taken the unusual step of publicly claiming that neither of them is the mystery man confronted by Tiger Woods over the use of illegal clubs.

Woods, one off the lead going into today's second round of the NEC Invitational tournament, recently spoke to a rival he believed was gaining an unfair advantage by using a driver that does not conform to strict technical rules.

The world No1 refused to name the player but American Kenny Perry and Argentina's Eduardo Romero were linked to the allegation. Now they have come forward to declare they are not guilty of cheating.

Romero, the 49-year-old who outplayed Woods when they were paired together in the third round of the US Open, insisted he was not the individual who had been singled out. He said: "There's no secret, no nothing. Just the new balls go for miles."

As for Perry, he has hit a run of form as hot as the sauce made by his sponsor, Tabasco. The 42-year-old won just four tournaments between 1994 and the start of this season. Yet since May he has taken three titles on the US PGA circuit.

Perry, who will line up with Woods in the United States side in the Presidents Cup in November, pointed to his putter as the reason behind his dramatic improvement.