Cameron Smith’s world number one bid hit by two-shot penalty in Memphis

Cameron Smith’s bid to win the FedEx St Jude Championship and become world number one suffered a sizeable blow before he teed off in the final round.

Smith seemingly carded a third round of 67 at TPC Southwind to lie two shots behind leader JJ Spaun, only to be assessed a two-shot penalty on Sunday for playing from the wrong place on the fourth hole in round three.

Footage posted on social media showed that Smith’s ball was on the red line marking the penalty area on the par three after he had taken a drop.

A statement from the PGA Tour read: “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 ball from the wrong place) on hole number four during the third round as he was operating under rule 17.1 (when ball is in penalty area).

“Smith’s score has been adjusted and he will begin the final round at 201 (-9). Final-round pairings will not be adjusted.”

Smith, who won the Players Championship in March and his first major title in the 150th Open at St Andrews, will replace Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings if he can overturn a four-shot deficit to win in Memphis.

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