The Open: Bob MacIntyre furious with Kyle Stanley for not shouting 'fore' after caddie's mother hit
Stanley's errant drive hit the mother of MacIntyre's caddie, but he refused to shout 'fore'
By Keith Jackson at Royal Portrush
Last Updated: 20/07/19 7:26pm
Bob MacIntyre was furious with playing partner Kyle Stanley for not shouting a warning after a wayward drive into the crowd during day two of The Open.
Stanley did not give the traditional shout of "fore" despite his ball heading towards the spectators, and it resulted in a direct hit on the mother of Greg Milne, who is MacIntyre's caddie.
Mrs Milne took the blow in her hand which caused painful swelling, and MacIntyre remonstrated with the American over the incident which he described as "not too pleasant".
MacIntyre, who was just six off the lead at the halfway stage after following his opening 68 with a 72, said: "There were a few things I've been not happy about today, and not just with me.
"Playing partner didn't shout 'fore', but the ball is going in the crowd. We're shouting 'fore' as the ball is coming down and he's just standing watching it. People don't have enough time to react after we shout, and it hit Greg's mum, so I told them how it was.
"I said I wasn't happy, and I didn't really like the response. He's the only one I've seen. Straight in the crowd. It was in the crowd from the word go. And we expect them to shout 'fore'. It wasn't too pleasant. But you've got to tell them.
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"He didn't take it well at all, but that ball was going straight in the crowd. Just shout, simple as that. People are diving out of the way of things when they should have more time."
Stanley was asked about the incident after completing his third round on Saturday and he defended his actions as well as describing the incident as a "non-issue".
He said: "After I hit [the ball] 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 signalling it was going right. I mean, everyone to the right of that ball, they knew it was coming.
"So to me it's kind of a non-issue. I'm not really sure why he decided to make such an issue about it. I know it hit his caddie's mom's hands off the bounce, and that's unfortunate.
"But as far as I'm concerned, a number 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.
"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 kind of come to this point."
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