Sandy Lyle, who withdrew from the Open midway through his first round because he was playing so badly and was roundly criticised for doing so, was composing an apology to those who were offended by his actions yesterday.

Lyle, the 1985 Open champion who harbours a wish to captain Europe in a future Ryder Cup, was due to phone Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, the organiser of the Open, to explain why he had walked off the course on Thursday after playing the 10th.

Lyle, who is one of the most popular men in golf, received a tongue-lashing from Mark Brown, who would have taken Lyle's place if the Scot had withdrawn before the start of play, and the R&A for breaking one of golf's cardinal, if unwritten, rules that, once you have started a competitive round you should finish it, except in exceptional circumstances.

“I have to say professional golfers should continue their round,” Dawson said. “You wonder what they would think if a recorder went home at lunchtime and didn't record their score.”

Robert Duck, Lyle's manager, said: “This is a personal matter between Sandy and Peter and I am leaving it to Sandy. But I know Sandy wants to apologise to Peter, to the R&A, to the Open Championship and to golf fans who were upset at his behaviour.

“Sandy had an issue with his finger over the first nine holes that he should have explained and he was mindful that he has a British Senior Open next week, a US senior event the week after, a week off and another major on the senior tour in the US. But he is sorry for the way he handled it.”