 Gustafson appeared to address the ball at the 14th hole |
Sophie Gustafson fired a superb final-round 64 to seize the Samsung World Championship on Sunday. The Swede finished on a 14-under-par total of 274, two shots better than Rachel Teske and Beth Daniel and three strokes ahead of world number one Annika Sorenstam.
But her victory was shrouded in controversy.
Gustafson appeared to address her ball on the 14th green before backing away only for the ball to roll down an incline.
A tournament official went to the scene and was told by Gustafson that she did not address the ball.
 |  Golf's an honor game - you have to give Sophie the benefit of the doubt |
The Swede was not penalised, but television replays showed her taking a stance and moving her club behind the ball.
Gustafson, the girlfriend of LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw, asserted her innocence afterwards.
"The ball had stopped on the top of the slope and I marked it and then I put it back," she said.
"I knew that it could move and so I never grounded my club. Then it started to kind of not actually move, but to wobble, so I backed off.
"Probably three to five seconds later, it started to roll down the slope."
And fellow player Juli Inkster leapt to Gustafson's defence.
"From the camera angle, you can't really tell if she addressed or not. She hovers over the ball," Inkster said.
"Golf's an honor game. She's a straight-arrow person. You have to give her the benefit of the doubt. I totally beleive in what Sophie says. She played awesome and deserved to win."
MMIX
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