Penalty drama stuns Cameron

Open champion docked two shots

CAMERON Smith’s push to reach the top of the world rankings was dealt a surreal and significant blow when he was penalised before hitting a shot in his fourth round at the FedEx St Jude Championship.

The Open champion, who is expected to join the breakaway LIV series, was due to start his final round at TPC Southwind just two strokes behind the overnight leader, JJ Spaun.

With a win in Memphis needed for Smith to replace Scottie Scheffler at the top of the global standings, he endured the pre-round gut punch of being summoned to the rules office, where he was informed he had played from the wrong place on the fourth hole a day earlier in round three. For that offence, the Australian was assessed a two-stroke penalty, which dragged him down to nine under, four shy of Spaun.

The incident related to an errant tee shot into the water at the par three.

In what appears to have been a case of Smith not knowing the rules around a common scenario, rather than any attempt to gain an advantage, his dropped ball came to rest on the penalty line, when it is obligated to be entirely in play. The infraction of then playing from the line was only noticed on TV replays yesterday morning, leading to a penalty that some will consider harsh.

The 28-year-old briefly recovered with a birdie at the first, but he dropped strokes at nine and ten before making another shot back on 16. However, the deficit proved too much for the Aussie as he finished on nine under, three shots behind the clubhouse leaders Lucas Glover and Brian Harman.

In discussing the Smith infraction, PGA Tour referee Gary Young said: ‘I thought it was going to be a situation where I asked Cam the question and he was going to tell me that he was comfortable that his ball was outside the penalty area.

‘When I asked him the question, unfortunately he said: “No, the ball was definitely touching the line”. He just wasn’t aware that no portion of the ball could be touching the line. He just accepted the two-stroke penalty and he very calmly left the office. Cam is a gentleman and took it that way.’

Smith’s performance at the first of the three FedEx Cup play-off events came under considerable scrutiny owing to the expectation that he will join Greg Norman’s rebels after the lucrative Tour Championship at the end of this month. He has refused to deny reports of a defection worth £82million since winning The Open in July.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy bogeyed the final hole to miss the cut by one stroke on Saturday but is still in a strong position in the FedEx Cup race.

The world No 3 from Northern Ireland shot a one-under-par 69 to take him to one under after two rounds.

It was McIlroy’s first tournament since his final-day disappointment at last month’s Open Championship.

Scotland’s Russell Knox on level par also missed the cut.