Dublin's Paul McGinley underwent knee surgery today after finding himself embroiled in a gamesmanship storm at the Nissan Irish Open.
McGinley was forced to retire after 13 holes of the opening round at Carton House and went straight to a local hospital for an operation to remove a piece of broken bone from his left knee.
To make matters worse the 39-year-old Dubliner then discovered he had been accused of gamesmanship by playing partner Kenneth Ferrie, one of his rivals for a Ryder Cup place this September.
While playing the 14th hole in the strong winds which caused play to be suspended for six hours, Ferrie's ball had moved on the green as he surveyed a putt.
Ferrie asked McGinley and Ian Poulter - the third member of the group - for advice, and McGinley told him he should replace the ball in its original position.
However, that advice was incorrect and Ferrie incurred a two-shot penalty when he realised his mistake and called for an official ruling on the next hole.
The 27-year-old was furious with McGinley and sarcastically 'thanked' him for the penalty shots which left him six over par at the time.
But McGinley was equally furious with the implications of gamesmanship and released a statement which read: "I am extremely sorry that my playing partner Kenneth Ferrie incurred a two-shot penalty after asking myself and Ian Poulter what he should do when his ball moved on the green.
"We gave our opinions in good faith and I am not going to dignify any accusations of gamesmanship on my behalf as they are totally groundless."
Ferrie also released a statement which read: "While Paul did, in fact, advise me that I could replace my ball on the 14th - which I later realised was inaccurate - at no time did I suggest he had acted improperly as his integrity is beyond question."
