He was speaking on the eve of the championship at Royal St George’s in Kent, where Tiger Woods is favourite and Ernie Els is trying to become the first player since Tom Watson in 1983 to make a successful defence of the title.

Rusedski was fined 2,500 US dollars (£1,500) for his outburst about a line-call during his match with Andy Roddick last month.

“Golf is a game that one of the bedrocks of is good etiquette,” added Dawson. “We would expect players to know how to behave.

“If they don’t we’ve got walking officials (following each group) who at the time could perhaps have a quiet word with them.

“I like to see these things dealt with by a quiet word rather than elevating the thing into a major incident.

“We do recognise that the tours week-in and week-out are where these golfers are playing and we consult with our colleagues on the tours as to how to deal with disciplinary cases to ensure it’s consistent with their week-to-week policy.”

David Pepper, chairman of the championship committee, added: “If you got to a situation where somebody did behave themselves badly, if they were a member of those tours, I presume they would discipline them in the way they would do at any of their events because they would expect them to behave. They have a code of etiquette.”

Golf is certainly not known for Rusedski-style tirades, but television cameras and microphones will be covering if not quite every move and word this week, then certainly more than ever before.