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Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson found themselves at the centre of a bizarre rules infraction during the final round of the Hero World Challenge.

Playing in the first group out at Albany Golf Club on Sunday, the 2016 and 2017 Open champions were well out of contention when their rounds burst to life in dramatic fashion.

The pair teed off on the par-5 ninth but, as it turned out, they did so from the wrong tees.

Overnight routing changes had resulted in the tee box on the ninth being moved up to accommodate the tee for the par-3 17th, which had been moved to the area occupied by the ninth tee in the first three rounds.

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Signs alerting players to the changes had been posted on the course, with information also provided on the tee sheets.

Nonetheless the pair teed off from the wrong spot. They were halfway down the fairway when the fairway when they were informed of their blunder, at which point they returned to the tee and teed off from the correct spot.

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Each was assessed a two-shot penalty for their troubles. Had they teed off on the tenth, they would have been disqualified.

Fortunately, they managed to see the funny side of it afterwards.

“I actually didn’t think we were going to get penalised because it’s a charity event, but then I realised there’s world ranking points involved and all that,” laughed Spieth.

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Stenson said: “A little note on the tee box would have been helpful, and I will make sure I tee it up on the right tee box in the future because I don’t think I’ve ever done this before.”

Asked if it had been an easy mistake to make, he added: “I’m a little offended by that because then you think I’m really stupid.”

The duo finished bottom of the 20-man leaderboard, Stenson on one-over and Spieth five shots worse off.


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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