If Sandy Lyle had wished to escalate his row with Colin Montgomerie after effectively labelling Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain a cheat, then he went about it in the right way after the first round of the Open Championship at Turnberry yesterday. Now, it seems, the former European No 1 is a drama queen as well.

It would be fair to say that the normally mild-mannered Lyle has decided that attack is his best form of defence. He had been publicly snubbed by Montgomerie on Tuesday, after he had waited outside the clubhouse to apologise in person, and will not let the matter rest.

“We ought to bring an end to it,” Lyle, without any hint of irony, announced in an interview with Radio 5 Live. “I would never have tried to jeopardise his preparations for the Open. That was never my intention.”

The dispute arose after Lyle had questioned why Montgomerie had been chosen ahead of him as captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup, considering that his fellow Scot had been shown on camera at the Indonesia Open four years ago replacing his ball in a more advantageous position after a break for bad weather.

Warming to his theme yesterday, Lyle suggested that Montgomerie should be mature enough to meet him, man to man, and hinted that the media had caused the problem between the two of them. “He should see that, too,” he said. “He has had enough experience with the press as well.

“We should get together and sort it out over a couple of pints. Colin is Colin. We do sometimes call him a bit of a drama queen. You have got to get around to it and stop hiding behind your manager and come out and have a talk.”

In a furious response, Guy Kinnings, Montgomerie’s manager, was having none of it. “Monty is not able to speak,” he said. “It is all one-sided. It is ridiculous. If one person wants to make himself look ridiculous, then that is fine.

“People are making this out to be a row. It is not a row, it is one guy who has an issue. Monty does not want to be bothered. He wants to concentrate on the Open and not be drawn into this. Colin left a message with Sandy earlier in the year. Why would he want to speak to Sandy now? Sandy has just defamed him publicly.”

Both players had contrasting days on the Ailsa Course. Lyle, a double major champion, arrived on the 1st tee to relatively muted applause and went on to drop five shots in his first five holes. It did not get any worse, however, and he finished with a five-over-par 75. Montgomerie, announced as the Ryder Cup captain by the starter, was greeted more warmly but could do no better than 71, which in the circumstances was pretty good.

Elsewhere, the serious issue of golf took centre stage. And in conditions made for low scoring, the old boys’ network came to the fore. Tom Watson, at 59, led the way with a bogey-free round of 65 — the score that he recorded in the final round on his way to victory here in 1977 — and he was joined on the leaderboard by a host of fortysomethings, eventually losing his lead to Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who birdied the last hole to complete an outstanding 64. Out in 31, the 45-year-old Spaniard came home in 33 and picked up six birdies along the way.

Jiménez took the lead six hours after Watson, five times a winner of the Open, had left the 18th green to loud and long applause. But the Spaniard insisted that he could not have ruined his evening. “No, he’s going to be a legend for ever,” he said. “Tom Watson is one of the guys you still have to look up to. He’s a legend here and we are proud to play with him.”

Among those near the top of the leaderboard were a host of old-timers, Mark O’Meara and Mark Calcavecchia, both Open champions, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk. And it was something that Tiger Woods, who had a lacklustre 71, picked up on. “Look at the guys who are playing well,” the world No 1 said. “Mostly some of the older guys. They understand how to play this kind of golf.”

One name near the top of the leaderboard that few would have recognised was Kenichi Kuboya, of Japan, who finished birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to draw alongside Watson and Ben Curtis in second place.