Cameron Smith had an interesting interaction Sunday morning.
The winner of the 2022 Players Championship and the 150th Open Championship, Smith woke up believing he was two strokes off the lead heading into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Not quite.
Minutes before his final round tee time, Smith was assessed a two-stroke penalty for “improper placement of the ball” while taking relief on the fourth hole during his third round.
“Prior to the start of the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Cameron Smith was assessed a two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 14.7 (playing the ball from the wrong place) on Hole No. 4 during the third round where he was operating under Rule 17.1 (when ball was in penalty area),” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “Smith’s score has been adjusted and he will begin the final round at 201 (-9).”
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The penalty dropped Smith, the No. 2 player in the world, to four shots off the lead to start the final round. With a win in Memphis, Smith would overtake Scottie Scheffler as the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, which will be updated Monday.
Golf Twitter, needless to say, had plenty of reactions to the penalty: