During the second round, Chris Jones had responded to a non-specific query from Camilo Villegas's caddie who was wondering out loud if the hybrid club Wilson had hit off the fifth tee was "like a two or a three iron".

Without thinking, Jones said that the club's loft was "18 degrees".

After finishing out the hole, Wilson informed an official of the conversation, and while clearly there was no ulterior motive, he was penalised two strokes under rule 8-1 as his caddie had given "advice" to another competitor.

In the end, Jones's distress at his mistake was presumably eased by a percentage of the $990,000 first prize.

K CLUB COULD BE LEFT CHASING TIGER'S TAIL The announcement earlier in the week that Tiger Woods is to host his own PGA Tour event in July might not be good news for both the European Open and the British Open.

With Woods's AT&T National in Washington clashing with the European Open, it's possible that players such as Retief Goosen, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and Michael Campbell, who all featured at the K Club last year, could opt for Woods's tournament which will have a greater number of world ranking points on offer.

Given that Woods has committed himself to a date in the first week of July, he presumably is expecting that his wife will give birth to their "rst child later in the month.

Maybe around the time of the British Open at Carnoustie?

Compiled by Mark Jones