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).”
FedEx St. Jude Championship: PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ | Leaderboard
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:
Here's the ruling
Statement on Cameron Smith ruling at FedEx St. Jude Championship pic.twitter.com/15P5i2FxM3
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 14, 2022
Behind the 8-ball
Cam Smith docked 2 strokes for an improper placement of his ball on the fourth hole during the third round. FedEx Cup lead and World No. 1 just got a lot harder to achieve today.
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) August 14, 2022
Tinfoil hat?
https://t.co/QW4C1NFeEi pic.twitter.com/Z4P8ckoPk5
— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) August 14, 2022
PGA Tour rules official Gary Young
PGA Tour rules official Gary Young, who is the chief referee for this week’s tournament, explaining why Cam Smith was penalized 2 strokes between rounds. pic.twitter.com/q1FFShqzpa
— Jason Munz (@munzly) August 14, 2022
On the line
Since his ball was on the line, he did not take full relief from the penalty area. pic.twitter.com/omaror9xn0
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) August 14, 2022
'No turning back'
The bad luck for Cam is that a rules official happened to be watching the rebroadcast and felt it was worth another look. Too bad he wasn't watching $100,000 Pyramid. And once they talked to Cam and he confirmed the violation, referee says there was "no turning back."
— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) August 14, 2022
Oh, boy
https://t.co/LyCP88pvUa pic.twitter.com/xghF3HH950
— Dan Hauser (@DanHauserGolf) August 14, 2022
A thought?
It is not unreasonable to have a tour official watching the telecast live and identifying potential rules issues that need to be addressed after play concludes *on that day.* That's pretty damn important.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) August 14, 2022
'It's that simple'
PGA Tour rules official/chief referee for this week's tournament Gary Young explaining Cam Smith's 2-stroke penalty: "I think he was just comfortable that he was operating within the rules and it just turned out he wasn't, it's that simple."
— Jason Munz (@munzly) August 14, 2022
Came out firing
Cam birdies the first pic.twitter.com/K3j1MXKq8j
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) August 14, 2022
Imagine this...
Imagine this in other sports? “There was a pass interference in the first half, we just saw it.” “That pitch last inning should’ve been called a strike.” Nobody is arguing the violation — including, apparently, Cam Smith. It’s the timing. Next-day ruling wrong on so many levels.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 14, 2022
What are you looking at?
PGA Tour rules officials watching Cam Smith take a drop pic.twitter.com/bc9xFuEuya
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) August 14, 2022
