Spectator hit by ball at British Open
Golfer Kyle Stanley questioned for not yelling ‘fore’
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Golfer Kyle Stanley isn’t being criticized for what he said – but for what he didn’t.
The controversy concerns something that happened during the second round of the British Open.
First, Stanley accidentally struck a course marshal on the shin with an errant shot on No. 14. Then, on No. 17, Stanley hit a shot that sailed toward some spectators, and he only watched as it did. It’s customary to yell “fore” if someone could possibly be struck by a shot.
This particular shot one-hopped and struck a woman on the hand. That woman happened to be the mother of Scotsman Robert Macintyre’s caddie. Macintyre, playing in a group with Stanley, was none too pleased.
“Playing partner doesn’t shout ‘fore,’ the ball is going in the crowd,” Macintyre said. “We’re shouting ‘fore,’ the ball is coming down. We’re shouting it as it’s coming into the crowd, and he’s just standing there watching it. People don’t have enough time to react after we shout. It hits Greg, my caddie’s, mom. And so I told them how it was.”
Macintyre, in turn, lit into Stanley on the course.
“It wasn’t too pleasant,” Maintyre said. “But you’ve got to tell them.”
That happened Friday, and on Saturday, Stanley took issue with Macintyre’s description of what happened.
“You had a hard wind off the left,” said the two-time PGA Tour winner from Gig Harbor, Wash. “After I hit, several people on the tee box yelled “fore.’ My two playing partners, my caddie, a couple of the volunteers or the marshals, even had them signaling it was going right. I mean, everyone to the right of that ball knew it was coming.
“So to me, it’s kind of a nonissue. I’m not really sure why (Macintyre) decided to make such an issue about it. I know it hit his caddie’s mom’s hands after the bounce, and that’s unfortunate. But as far as I’m concerned, a lot of people yelled ‘fore.’ He made the argument that since I hit the ball that it maybe should have come out of my mouth first. I guess I can see that.”
Stanley said he typically yells “fore” himself in those situations.
“It’s unfortunate the way it wound up the way it did,” he said. “It certainly was not my intention to put anyone in harm’s way. I had my wife in the gallery, my coaches. So I’m surprised it’s kind of come to this point.”
Stanley does not sound contrite and said he hasn’t apologized.
“I went up there, and the first thing that I asked everybody was if I hit anybody,” he said. “And nobody gave me an indication that I did.
“That’s the first thing you do when you hit a ball off line, when you get up there you ask, “Did it hit anybody? Is everybody OK?’ And that’s what I did. No one told me I hit anybody.”
Had the caddie’s mother said she had been hit, she likely would have gotten something from Stanley.
“You sign a ball,” he said, “sign a glove.”