Jamie Spence believes there are lessons to be learnt for tournament organisers after a shot from Max Homa came close to hitting a spectator during the final round of The Players Championship.
The incident occurred on the 14th hole at TPC Sawgrass when Homa found himself having to play his fourth shot from around the fairway and was surrounded by spectators.
Social media footage showed the danger posed to those watching as the ball whizzed past them and while former DP World Tour player Spence felt player and spectators shared responsibility, he told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast that those overseeing the tournament have a duty too.
- Scheffler and PGA Tour stars deliver major-style finish to The Players Championship
- McIlroy 'heading in the right direction' ahead of The Masters
- Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more with NOW
"It's a mixture of everybody," Spence said. "Why are you sticking your head out when the guy is going to hit it about four yards inside where your head is?
"Maybe some people don't realise what this player is going to do, but you need to give them a bit more space. You need to give them more of an angle there because it's very dangerous.
"There are things you can do to protect yourself, but I think there is a disclaimer when people go into the golf course.
"You've got to be sensible and think 'I'm not too keen about standing there', but maybe the organisers might learn and give them a bit more space because you could kill someone there."
Fellow former Tour professional Rob Lee concurred with Spence, adding that Homa had tried to call to spectators crowding around where he was standing to give him space.
However, Lee believes it is a near-on impossible situation for tournament organisers to protect against without a significant number of on-course marshals being in the vicinity.
"He asked them to move back, and they moved like a foot and a half," Lee said. "It's really hard. Unless you've got a ton of marshals down there to get 400 or 500 people to move, it's very difficult to do it.
"If the person in front of you has got a good view, you've got to get past him or her to have a view and the same thing.
"It gets exponentially worse and the guy who's further away, he's come round more to the target and the shot line."
Spence acknowledged the need for players to be given more space to play shots from difficult lies and is in no doubt such situations can be avoided in the future.
"They need more space," Spence said. "It's common sense and the player should know his own limitations here and think 'hang about, this lie's not great and it could come out any way'.
"We're not there seeing the lie either, but it's something which could be avoided, no doubt about it."
Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp!
You can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, in-depth features and videos from our dedicated WhatsApp channel!