GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Cameron Smith would become No. 1 in both the world ranking and FedExCup with a win Sunday in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

That job was made more difficult after he was penalized two strokes for playing from an improper location in the third round, however. The penalty was assessed Sunday morning, after rules officials further discussed the incident that occurred Saturday on TPC Southwind’s fourth hole and asked Smith about it.

In the third round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Smith hit his tee shot on the par-3 into the penalty area. He took a drop but his ball was still touching the red line that denotes the penalty area. Players are required to take full relief from a penalty area, so Smith was playing his third shot from an improper location.

Smith violated Rule 14.7 (playing a ball from the wrong place) while operating under Rule 17.1 (ball in penalty area), according to a statement from the PGA TOUR. PGA TOUR rules officials first saw the infraction during Saturday’s television broadcast but decided not to investigate further because of “the awkwardness of camera angles and that he was dropping in a really tight area,” said PGA TOUR Chief Referee Gary Young.

“We felt very comfortable at the time that he was familiar with the rule, and … it was such a quick view that we had at that time, we decided it wasn’t worth following up on,” Young added. “This is something common that players do every day.”

However, rules officials changed their mind after seeing a rebroadcast of the round.

“We did take a second look at it and sure enough, we felt it was really close to the line, if not touching and possibly on the line,” Young said. “So it was worth asking the player.”

Young found Smith in the clubhouse about an hour before his 12:30 p.m. tee time for the final round and asked him about the incident. When Smith told Young that, yes, the ball had been touching the line, the penalty was assessed. Smith would not have been penalized if he told Young that he believed his ball was outside the penalty area.

“I thought it was simply going to be a situation where I asked (Cameron) the question and he was going to tell me that he was comfortable that his ball was outside the penalty area,” Young said. “When I asked him the question, unfortunately, he said to me, ‘No, the ball was definitely touching the line.’ So at that point there's no turning back.”

Young described Smith’s reaction to the penalty as “very calm, very matter of fact.”

“His answer to me was, ‘The rules are the rules,’” Young said.

The penalty dropped Smith from two off J.J. Spaun’s 54-hole lead to four back. The two strokes were applied to his fourth hole in the third round, turning his bogey into a triple and his 67 into a 69. He started the final round at 9-under 201.

Smith is No. 2 in both the FedExCup and world ranking after a career year that’s featured wins at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS and The Open.