Masters champion Bubba Watson has been overheard complaining about the number of people following his group on the opening day at Hoylake.
After hitting his approach to the 394-yard 11th, the American was heard on television saying: "There's just a thousand people in this fairway, all I want to do is play golf, that's all I want to do."
The 35-year-old played the first 10 holes in one-under, but slumped to a triple bogey seven at 11 and dropped three further shots with only one birdie as he came home in 42.
"It was good for 10 holes," Watson is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "I lost focus on 11. It was a short hole, middle of the fairway, I just forgot what I was doing.
"A lot of stuff was happening in the background but it was my fault. There was about 40 people in our fairway, inside the ropes with cameramen, and I don't know, some other people and a bunch of other people.
"It makes it tough for me because I lose focus real fast. But there was no phone problem, no fan problem."
Watson's playing partner Phil Mickelson denied that the number of people inside the ropes was a problem, claiming that it is "just a different culture".
