Kyle Stanley refuses to apologise for not shouting "fore" when his ball hits mother of playing partner's caddie
Kyle Stanley has refused to apologise for not shouting "fore" when his ball hit the mother of playing partner Bob McIntyre's caddie.
American Stanley insisted Scottish star McIntyre had misrepresented the events of Friday's second round, bristling in response: "I don't feel the need to be schooled on the rules of golf".
Oban native McIntyre criticised Stanley on Friday night, claiming the 31-year-old had twice failed to shout the customary warning when hitting wayward shots during their round.
The second of those incidents led to Stanley's ball hitting the mother of McIntyre's caddie Greg Milne, with the two players later having words - and now Stanley hitting back.
"It's not awkward for me; listen when you talk about somebody playing within the boundaries of etiquette in golf, that's kind of a touchy situation," said Stanley, who shot 73 on Saturday for a tournament score of two over par.
"To paint somebody in that light, not playing within the etiquette of the game, you've got to be careful when you do that.
"And when you tell your story you've got to make sure you've got all the details.
"From what I read last night, he didn't do that.
"Listen, he's a young player, I've been out here a while, so I don't feel the need to be schooled on the rules of golf. That's my perspective on it.
"I haven't apologised, no. Our discussion was brief.
"If his issue was with me not being the first person to say fore, does he have a point, does he not have a point? That's up to him.
"After I hit, several people on the tee box yelled fore, my two playing partners, my caddie, a couple of the volunteers, marshals, even had them signalling it was going right.
"And then everyone to the right, they knew it was coming.
"So to me it's a kind of non-issue; I don't know why he decided to make such an issue out of it."
McIntyre had admitted he exchanged "harsh words" with Stanley on Friday, admitting the clash "wasn't too pleasant".
Stanley has now insisted he would not seek out McIntyre to discuss the situation any further.
"It hit his caddie's mum's hand off the bounce, and that's unfortunate, but as far as I'm concerned, a number of people yelled fore," said Stanley.
"He made the argument that since I'd hit the ball it maybe should have come out of my mouth first, and I guess I can see that, but it's unfortunate it ended up the way it did.
"It certainly wasn't my intention to put anyone in harm's way, I had my wife in the gallery, my coaches.
"So I'm surprised it's come to this point.
"I went up there and the first thing I asked everybody was if I had hit anybody, and nobody gave me an indication that I did.
"I mean that's the first thing you do when you hit a ball off line, when you get up there you ask if you hit anybody, is everybody okay, and that's what I did.
"And nobody told me I'd hit anybody.
"I found out in the scorer's trailer, after our round.
"This is a first for me. I always try to be very professional about how I go about things, and I don't think what happened yesterday changes that.
"It was just an unfortunate situation, and certainly not my intent."
McIntyre shot a 71 to remain two under par in Saturday's third round, then insisted he had nothing to add about the bust-up with Stanley.
"I've done my part, that's just my opinion," said McIntyre.
"I've just said my piece and that's it.
"I've done what I felt I had to do, and there's nothing else I can do.
"You learn from everything that happens on a golf course."