NORTH Yorkshire golf star Simon Dyson's dream of playing in America has been shelved.

The terrorist carnage that has massacred thousands of Americans in New York and Washington forced organisers of the $5million American Express World Golf Championship to cancel the event.

Dyson had earlier flown from his Malton home to the Bellerive Country Club venue in St Louis, Missouri, hoping to achieve his ambition of making his debut in America and in the prestigious event for which he qualified as Asian Order of Merit winner last December.

But the championship - open to the top 50 players in the world and 17 other tour Order of Merit winners like Dyson - was always under threat after organisers initially postponed its first day today to tomorrow.

Now as America mourns its dead and starts the massive recovery operation after hi-jacked airplanes smashed into both towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan and the Pentagon building in Washington, the event has been cancelled as a mark of respect.

While the 23-year-old Dyson was disappointed at losing his chance to play alongside the world's elite he fully understood the reasons for the cancellation.

Now he is wondering when flights out ofd America will be resumed as the Malton and Norton Golf Club ace is due to jet out to Japan on Monday for an invitational tournament in Tokyo.

Meanwhile growing calls for the Ryder Cup to also be postponed were countered by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie who today called for sport not to give in to terrorism.

US team member and former Open champion Mark Calcavecchia felt the contest should be postponed adding: "I think you can forget about the Ryder Cup for a few months at least."

Tiger Woods has also questioned whether he should fly to Paris on Monday for the Lancome Trophy but Montgomerie hopes the Ryder Cup can still go ahead.

The Scot said: "It's too early now but let's hope that two weeks is a long time and we can use this to be beneficial in a way, to say this is what the Ryder Cup should be and should have been every time we have played - that is, uniting us through sport.

"This is what should happen and hopefully will happen. It is for our PGAs and Tours to get together and see if it is feasible.

"Let's hope we can use it as a positive message because if the Ryder Cup is cancelled or postponed, you are allowing these terrorists to win."

Montgomerie readily acknowledged, however, that the American players should have the biggest influence on the possible staging of the Ryder Cup.

Updated: 11:57 Thursday, September 13, 2001