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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Henrik Stenson lost his ball out-of-bounds on the par-3 eighth hole at the British Open, then he lost his temper. Now he has been fined 500 pounds by the championship organizers.
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The Swedish star, who won the Accenture Match Play Championship in February, smashed his club into the tee marker. He went on to make a triple bogey and shot 40 on the front nine, then ended his round with a bogey on the 18th for a 76.
The cut fell at 4-over 146, and Stenson missed by one.
Ernie Els also was frustrated by his putting, which he said cost him about four or five strokes. After missing a short putt on the ninth hole, the Big Easy let out an expletive loud enough for everyone to hear.
And he released another one, slightly milder, after a grilling from the media.
"That's just the way I felt," Els said. "Normally, I keep it all in. But I thought, 'Maybe let me get everything out.' I didn't see too many small kids, so hopefully, they all closed their ears. That's what a major does to you."
Later in the interview, he was asked whether his reaction at No. 9 was a culmination of emotions. Then he was asked if he had heard about Stenson. Then he was asked where his mind was at that moment. Finally, a question about what his coach would have said. "Who gives a (expletive)," Els said. "Jeez!"
RULES ARE RULES
The Royal & Ancient Golf Club stood by the rules official who gave Tiger Woods free relief from television cables in the British Open, even though its rules director said he was able to move the cables himself.
"We know Alan Holmes got the ruling right," said David Rickman, rules director of the R&A.
Woods' tee shot on the 10th hole Thursday went left into thick rough, resting on a strand of cables. Holmes, the incoming chairman of the R&A rules committee, tried to move the cables but found them to be fixed. In that situation, the player can drop the ball within one club length without penalty.
Woods' lie improved dramatically, from thick rough to trampled grass. He hit just short of the green and made an 8-foot par putt.
Mark Roe, a former European tour player working for the BBC, said he was able to move the cables a full yard, raising questions whether Woods was given preferential treatment.
