Champion defended by Dean over 13th hole delay

HILLSBOROUGH’S Joe Dean, an Open debutant at Royal Birkdale, was startled by the criticism launched at eventual winner Jordan Spieth over the time it took him to seek a ruling at what proved a pivotal hole in his final round.

At the 13th, Spieth had to take an unplayable lie after his drive and eventually ended up playing his third shot from the practice ground after a 20-minute delay.

He apologised to playing partner Matt Kuchar when he eventually reached the green and putted out for a bogey.

His fellow American took the incident in his stride, but many went on the attack on social media suggesting Spieth should have been penalised for the length of time he took to get the ruling and then play his third shot.

“There’s been a lot of criticism for Spieth, for how long he took with the drop,” said Dean, who made the cut on his first appearance in the Open – and finished top of the par-3s leader board by playing the short holes in four under par.

“It’s really frustrating because people don’t realise how long it takes (in a situation like that). It’s not as if you’re stood there with a Bushnell (laser range finder) that you can just zap to get the distance.

“First of all he had to run up a massive slope to find how far he was from the green, then he’s got to find out how far he was from the bunker in front. It will have taken 10 minutes without even waiting for the ruling.

“There were people on Facebook criticising and they haven’t got a clue.

“I missed a few fairways by just 10, 15 yards and it took me two and a half, three minutes to figure how far I’d got and sort everything out. I think people forget it’s not a simple thing to do.”