Good walk spoiled?

There's an old saying that football is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans, and rugby is a game for hooligans played by gentlemen - or something like that. But what about golf? Have been watching the Ryder Cup, and was less than impressed by the antics of some of the players. I've always seen golf - which for a time I played, very very badly - as a gentle game where sportsmanship was crucial. After all, in a casual friendly game there's ample opportunity for cheating - improving your lie, miscounting your strokes and so on - and you have to play on the basis that nobody is doing that sort of thing or seeking in any other way to take an unfair advantage. The same principles surely apply at all levels of the game, and what I saw came perilously close on occasion to crossing that line.