The Open - Diary

A difficult week at Muirfield got even trickier for Open Championship organisers the R&A yesterday as some golfers rounded on near unplayable greens on the sun-parched Scottish links.

Ian Poulter, pictured, called some pin positions “a joke”, and tweeted: “18th needs a windmill & clown face” while Phil Mickelson said those preparing the course should “let go of their ego” and make the greens easier to negotiate.

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, already under fire this week for staging The Open at a club with a male-only membership policy, was again forced on the defensive, but like his stance on gender issues he was a man not for turning, essentially telling the players to stop their whinging and play better.