• Open de France

Bubba critical of European Tour organisation

Bubba Watson has had an unhappy time in France © Getty Images

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Bubba Watson hit out at the organisers of the Open de France after missing the cut on Friday, complaining of lax security as crowds affected his concentration.

The American was making a rare foray on the European Tour, but courted controversy for some ill-informed comments about some of the famous landmarks of Paris long before successive rounds of 74 ensured he would have the weekend off.

Frustrated with his performance, Watson was critical of the tournament setup as he blamed outside factors for his scoring.

"It's different for me, there's cameras, there's phones, there's everything, no security," Watson complained to Sky Sports after his round. "I don't know which holes to walk through, there's no ropes. It's something I'm not used to, I'm not comfortable with."

Watson had reportedly received around £200,000 as an appearance fee to attend the European Tour event, but he denied that was the case.

"I'm not being paid a dime," he said. "I am here because of my sponsors. There has been no cheque."

Unsurprisingly, European Tour tournament director David Probyn defended the measures in place at Le Golf Club National - which will host the Ryder Cup in 2018.

"You can't ban everyone who is carrying a mobile phone," Probyn said. "It's the same with cameras. You can't scan everyone for a camera at every event, that would just make it hard for people to watch golf and we don't want to do that.

"Sure, we are not as rigorous with the way we run things as they might be in America. But we don't have 1,200 volunteers like they have in America for a tournament. Anyway, our players are happy to walk through the crowds."

On Thursday, Watson had been quoted as describing Paris' Eiffel Tower as "that big tower".

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.