Rather like a moth being lured to the light of a car’s headlamps and being blissfully unaware of the splattering consequences of its fluttering manoeuvre, us humans are becoming an increasingly reckless old lot when it comes to our obsession with technology.

The other day, for instance, this scribe was forced into an emergency stop of the rattling jalopy as a completely oblivious pedestrian tethered to their phone meandered blithely into the perils of the road with all the carefree nonchalance of a baby cheerily crawling towards a live plug socket.

I read something at the weekend stating that there’s an increasing body of evidence suggesting that the time we spend snuggled in the all-consuming embrace of our fancy phones is interfering with our sleep, self-esteem, sex life, attention span, productivity, problem-solving and decision-making skills.

And here was me thinking these were just the stupefying effects of cobbling together this ruddy column.

CARLY BOOTH’S TEAM DO HER NO FAVOURS

Sporty folk, who often have more hangers-on than a rock pool of barnacles, tend to come with an army of people who do stuff for them. Do you want to swat aside a request for an interview? Yes? Then just get that snivelling goon from your management company to nix those requests on your behalf.

These are the people who, apparently, know what’s best for their client. Well, that’s what they think.

The promotion of Carly Booth’s sponsorship deal with Golf Saudi last week appeared to be mismanagement on a sizeable scale. Her online post, all beaming smiles and platitudes, stated how she was “honoured” to represent Golf Saudi while acknowledging how “culturally” different the country is to others.

READ MORE: Carly Booth faces backlash after Saudi deal

When the inevitable backlash erupted and Booth was roundly condemned in the court of public opinion, the post was hastily deleted. That in itself was an embarrassing retreat from her advisors. You either stand up to promote whatever it is you are promoting – and taking the money from – or you don’t.

Some of the world’s best male players, like Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and others, came under fire for accepting lavish appearance fees for playing in Saudi Arabia earlier this season.

The fire directed at Booth has been, arguably, more withering.A case of going for the easy, soft target? Perhaps. Booth, and the rest of her Ladies European Tour colleagues, play for a pittance compared to the men. We can’t blame them for seeking any financial avenues that open up. When global corporations and governments – oh, and golf tours – happily do you-scratch-my-back deals with Saudi Arabia, should we really expect Booth to single-handedly assume the role of moral arbiter? Her reputation has taken a dunt. It will be interesting to see what her management team does next.

EDOARDO MOLINARI CALLS OUT THE SLOW COACHES

Golf can be slow. So slow, in fact, it makes the painting of The Hay Wain by Constable look positively action-packed. The issue of pace of play is one of the long-standing plooks on golf’s complexion.

People talk of tipping points – the four minutes 10 seconds it took JB Holmes to hit a shot was one such occasion – but a nothing-to-see-here approach continues. Therefore nothing seems to get done.

With rounds in the Hassan Trophy at the weekend dragging on so long, the cards being handed in just about had cobwebs on them, Edoardo Molinari put his neck on the line and posted an image of the European Tour’s Timing Summary.

The chart showed the number of occasions players had been timed, had breached and had been fined.

Only three players – Adrian Otaegui, Louis Oosthuizen and Erik Van Rooyen – had received fines of £2,500, not that monetary punishments does much.

The fact Molinari has publicly named and shamed the culprits was a bold move and should make for an interesting locker-room atmosphere.

Will it do anything about pace of play? Nothing has worked so far, so perhaps widespread ridicule of the slow coaches may do the trick.

CONNOR SYME ADDS TO FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

We all know that golf in its cradle faces challenges. Clubs closing here, memberships declining there, fierce competition for free time everywhere?

It’s not all doom and gloom. Connor Syme’s victory on the Challenge Tour, following wins by David Law and Stephen Gallacher on the main tour recently, continued a fine 2019 for the Scots.

In a truly international game, winning at any level is hellishly hard. We should always savour these tartan triumphs.