Speith ends surprising streak at Players Championship

Jordan Spieth’s remarkable scoring streak finally came to an end on Sunday, but the American sensation remained in contention for a payday in the Players Championship.

Spieth completed his first three rounds at Sawgrass without a single bogey and stretched his error-free run to 58 holes with two birdies and two pars in the first four holes of the final round.

That briefly took him one shot ahead of playing partner Martin Kaymer, but the 20-year-old promptly dropped a shot on the fifth after driving into heavy rough, leaving the final pair tied for the lead on 13 under par.

Jim Furyk was two off the pace after picking up five birdies in his first 10 holes, with Canada’s David Hearn and 2008 champion Sergio Garcia another shot back.

England’s Justin Rose had also reached 10 under after looking set to make the most of a rules reprieve, but the US Open champion then dropped three shots in a row from the 10th.

Rose was penalised two shots following his third round on Saturday after his ball moved fractionally as he set up to play his third shot from the back of the 18th green.

He would have escaped with a one-shot penalty if he had replaced his ball, but appeared uncertain that the ball had moved after consulting with playing partner Garcia.

That meant a third round of 73 and left Rose seven shots off the lead, but the penalty was rescinded by tournament officials on Sunday.

“I was good with the way everything played out, I want to play by the rules,” Rose told reporters before beginning his final round.

“But I was reading an article in the evening and the rule states, and I’m paraphrasing, if a player can’t discern whether the ball moved or not it’s deemed not to have moved. I sort of scratched my head and said that’s exactly what happened to me and yet I was docked two (shots).”

The penalty was rescinded under a new decision on the rules of golf which was announced in November last year and came into effect from January 1, 2014.

Decision 18/4 states that “where enhanced technological evidence shows that a ball has left its position and come to rest in another location, the ball will not be deemed to have moved if that movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time.

“The decision ensures that a player is not penalised under Rule 18-2 in circumstances where the fact that the ball had changed location could not reasonably have been seen without the use of enhanced technology.”

In a statement, the PGA Tour said on Sunday that 18/4 was initially thought not to apply because television footage showed the ball may have moved in a way that was discernible to the naked eye, but upon further review “the Rules Committee reopened the incident and focused on how much the use of sophisticated technology played a part in making the original ruling.

“This morning, after consulting with the governing bodies and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, it was determined that without the use of sophisticated technology, it was not reasonably discernable to the naked eye that the ball had left its original position and had come to rest in its original place.

“Thus, the player’s determination that the ball had not moved was deemed to be conclusive and the penalty does not apply in this situation.”

For the fourth day running, Rory McIlroy found the back nine at Sawgrass far more to his liking than the front, the former world number one coming home in 31 for the second day in succession to shoot 66 and finish nine under.