Colin Montgomerie gave Sandy Lyle the cold shoulder yesterday after his fellow Scot apologised for calling him a cheat without actually retracting the allegation.
Lyle travelled to Turnberry from his Perthshire home a day earlier than planned to clarify his comments which were made almost a week ago at Loch Lomond prior to the Barclays Scottish Open but made public yesterday.
After examining a transcript of Lyle's apology and subsequent question-and-answer session, Montgomerie said: "I don't want to say much at all. It's nothing much to do with me. It's all about Sandy but it's rather a strange apology, to be honest with you. I've read it and I'm digesting it and I'll let you know when I've digested it further.
"I'm trying to compete in the Open and my preparations have been slightly dented. I'm not very happy about that at all.
It's a very strange apology and you'll hear from me later on."
He then left the clubhouse and nodded to Lyle - he had been hanging around in the hope of having a clear-the-air chat - but kept on walking, leaving his accuser to wait and wonder.
Lyle, the 51-year-old former Open and Masters champion, spoke last week about his failure to be appointed Europe's Ryder Cup captain, a job that went to Montgomerie.
Asked if he felt that walking off the course midway through the first round of the Open last year at Royal Birkdale had affected his captaincy, he said that the Montgomerie incident at the Indonesia Open four years ago, when he failed to replace a ball in the correct position, was worse "and that is a form of cheating".
Lyle, sitting beside his manager Rocky Hambric, began his news conference yesterday by reading a statement.
"I want it to be clear that I regret bringing up the 2005 incident in Jakarta," he said. "Colin Montgomerie and I are not at war. Colin is a great champion and a good friend.
"In my own bid for Ryder Cup captaincy he was always one of my biggest supporters.
Though I was personally disappointed by the decision of last February I always supported Colin as Ryder Cup captain and I will continue to offer my support.
"In my frustration over continually being asked about the incident at last year's Open Championship I regrettably brought up another old incident, one that happened over four years ago and has long since been resolved.
"I was trying to make the point by comparison that neither of these incidents had anything to do with the selection of the current Ryder Cup captain.
"I deeply regret making this comparison and apologise to Colin for involving him in my own issue. I feel especially bad if I have jeopardised his preparation for the Open."
He then, bizarrely, started digging a deeper hole when asked if it is still his opinion that what Montgomerie did in Jakarta was a form of cheating.
"It was all there to be seen. I didn't fabricate this thing," he said. "It was a very crucial time for Colin, getting into the top 50 and this and that and getting to the US Open and all these sort of things.
"But I'm only going on what other people have said. It was a pretty poor drop and it was one of his mistakes. I didn't make him do that mistake. It was his mistake and it will probably live with him for the rest of his life. It'll be cropping up. I can't do anything against that.
"I'm only trying to protect myself when I get called a quitter when I had a legitimate hand injury."
Asked if he would have called a penalty on Montgomerie if he had been in the same group in Jakarta, Lyle continued: "When you've got your own problems around the golf course you're not always watching behind your back about what the other person is doing.
"Obviously there was a rain delay and they returned the next morning and apparently he was in an extremely bad position. You've all seen it anyway. So I don't think you need me to say it but the problem was the drop wasn't close to where it should be. And, of course, the TV doesn't lie."
Asked if he though Montgomerie should resign as Ryder Cup captain, he said: "I don't think so. I'm in full support of him and I don't think he should jeopardise his Ryder Cup position right now. It's just something that will be history in a few more days' time and the game of golf will grow stronger."
Bernard Gallacher, another Scottish former Ryder Cup captain, said he thought Lyle's comments were out of order.
"Sandy is bitter at not being given the captaincy and what he has done now is below the belt for me," said Gallacher. "Monty's explanation for what happened in Indonesia was accepted by a forthright committee and, at that point, everyone should have put the matter behind them."
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