PAIGE SPIRANAC broke down in tears on Monday and revealed that "she had received death threats ahead of her second appearance at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club this week." The 23-year-old American "social media sensation, who has an impressive 860,000 followers on Instagram," got an invite to make her professional event debut at this tournament last year. However, she missed the cut by six strokes prompting online bullies to "suggest she got the invite due to her social media following, and not her golfing ability" (GULF NEWS, 12/5). ... Denmark's THOMAS BJORN will "captain Europe at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris." The 45-year-old will be only the fourth man from outside the British Isles to lead the team, after Spanish duo SEVE BALLESTEROS and JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL, and Germany's BERNHARD LANGER. Bjorn, who has been vice-captain four times, was chosen ahead of '99 Open champion PAUL LAWRIE. As a player, he was a Ryder Cup winner in '97, '02 and '14, and has won 15 European tour titles (BBC, 12/6). ... Organizers said on Tuesday that ROGER FEDERER and SERENA WILLIAMS have "pulled out of" the Int'l Premier Tennis League ahead of the tournament's Indian leg next week due to economic "uncertainty." India has been "gripped by a cash crunch" after the government withdrew high denomination from circulation last month. IPTL Founder and Dir MAHESH BHUPATHI said, "We have had challenges this year, and we were hoping to get past them" (REUTERS, 12/6).