Men who should know better

TURNBERRY, Scotland. Honestly, after a good 15- 20-minute laugh, the thing that came naturally was . . . well, to laugh again. Only this time for a half-hour.

Oh, those silly Scots sure know how to make my belly sore from so much glee. Outside the media centre here at the 138th Open Championship, the gray sky had unleashed sheets of cold rain, but inside there was a layer of good humour, courtesy of the latest dispute between Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie, grown men who should known better.

Lyle, who followed up his 1985 Open Championship win with a Masters title three years later, personally side-tracked media attention from this week’s festivities at Turnberry with stinging comments about his fellow Scot, Montgomerie.

Reaching back to 2005, Lyle reminded folks Montgomerie, at the Indonesia Open, was soundly condemned for improving his lie when replacing his ball in rough near a bunker after a dangerous weather delay.

Plenty of players and reporters said it at the time, so why Lyle felt four years later he needed to insinuate once again that Montgomerie had applied “a form of what you would call cheating” is lost on me.

But hey, it was great company with my coffee, muffin, and cereal.

The only thing is, breakfast lasted only a short while after which the laughter had evaporated, too, and there was this thought: What is wrong with this picture?

Plenty, it says here. Start with the fact that it’s the sport’s grandest championship and should be treated thusly. To express selfish concerns – as Lyle did – and deflect attention away from the Open Championship is disrespectful.

Beyond that, however, what resonated in this corner was confirmation of a long-held belief regarding the Ryder Cup. Red, white and blue loyalists embrace it for three days every two years, while European faithful are consumed by it for those three days and every one along the way.

This is not to suggest there is right and wrong to this. It is what it is, and truthfully, it’s what is at the heart of golf’s most passionate event.

But there sure are times when the disparity between the Ryder Cup interest on the two sides of the pond jump out at you and this is one of them.