Tiger Woods’ complaints about mobile phones at British Open bring swift response from R&A

Tiger Woods emphatically announced his return to major championship golf with a 3-under 69 in the first round of the British Open, but you really know he’s on the course and in contention when he starts whining about the spectators and their clicking cell phones.

Well, Tiger’s baaaack!

“People were taking pictures -- like we had it all day today,” Woods told reporters at Royal Liverpool after completing just his third competitive round since undergoing back surgery in March. “There was a lot of cameras out there. We were backing off a lot of shots and a lot of people moving around. It was tough.”

No doubt, Woods, who won his 11th of 14 major titles on the same track back in 2006, was having flashbacks to eight years ago when he overcame the shutterbuggery of his fans to win with an 18-under score. The R&A, which runs the Open Championship, went on to ban cell phones after Woods voiced his unhappiness with the distractions but allowed them back on the grounds in 2012, much to the chagrin of the former No. 1.

“Unfortunately people just don’t put their phones on silent,” he said. “Just put it on silent. Just put it on silent.”

Tourney marshals mingle with the crowds to try to clamp down on cell-phone scofflaws, according to James Corrigan, but as anyone who’s ever been almost crushed by the hordes that follow Woods knows, that’s a thankless task.

The R&A, in its infinite wisdom, also has made free wi-fi available across the course and, prior to Woods’ complaints, had been urging fans to use its official Open app to check scores and stream live photos, according to Corrigan.

So how’d that work out for R&A chief executive Peter Dawson? Not so real well, as the situation forced him to issue a statement encouraging fans to muzzle their mobile devices.