Henrik Stenson sounds off on the mobile phone problem at the Turkish Airlines Open

There is nothing worse for a golfer competing at a high level than unnecessary distractions. No matter if you’re Phil Mickelson or Joe Hacker, having a camera go off in your backswing or having a cart drive by when you’re trying to pummel that drive down the middle is a problem in golf, and distractions can really become frustrating if they continue for all 18 holes.

Enter Tiger Woods, the most popular golfer in the world and one of the most recognizable people on the planet. Woods is playing in the Turkish Airlines Open for the first time and with it means thousands of golf fans hoping to get a picture of Woods on the golf course. That, obviously, can be problematic.

Henrik Stenson, the 2013 FedEx Cup champion, was paired with Woods on Saturday and sounded off after his round about the problem with cell phones on the golf course.

“There are a lot of golfing tourists here and being out with Tiger there is always going to be a bit of extra buzz around,” Stenson said.

“But it’s such an easy thing to do if you go to a golf tournament, turn the sound off your mobile phone and turn the flash off too. Happy days, no one’s going to be bothered.”

Stenson continued, saying he doesn’t think he will be a crowd favorite after a frustrating day with the fans, saying Saturday was “one of the top-three hardest crowds to play in front of,” and Stenson isn’t the first guy to come out and say this has been a tough week.

Ian Poulter, who is in second place heading into the final round, has been seen visibly annoyed by the cell phone issue, and Tiger and others continue to battle this game of fans versus players.

I understand that as a fan you want to see the best in the world up close, but can I make a simple request for anyone heading to a golf event anytime soon? Just turn all the sound off your phone before you get out of your car. It isn’t that hard, just click your sounds off and you won’t be a problem to anyone involved.

Honestly, that picture you take of Tiger hitting between 100 different fans isn’t going to turn out that great anyway, but if you insist on carrying your phone to a golf tournament, just turn all the sounds off and you will be a professional’s best friend.

If fans continue to make this a problem, the tours will have to look at this and see if going back to banning phones at golf tournaments is the way to go.

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Shane Bacon is the editor of Devil Ball Golf and Busted Racquet on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shanebaconblogs@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter at @ShaneBacon!