And which hole would that be, sir?

Perhaps the R&A could consider a new rule for their next meeting. Should any member of the gallery shout "In the hole" or anything similar at any hole of any golf tournament then the request would be fulfilled using a suitable club which would then require surgical removal.

It is an American import which is creeping into our game and one we could well do without. How anyone can watch a drive at a par five and shout "In the hole", the hole being 500 yards or so away, defies logic. Perhaps at events such as The Open it means the brain dead can tell their mates watching on TV that the shout at the 15th was them.

I suppose it is the same need for attention that guarantees that any hint of a live recording at a concert will result in a section of the audience developing regular coughing fits interspersed with whistles and the odd shout. It's a sort of immortality - "Yeh, I was the whistle that ruined that really quite bit in that Springsteen song."