Spanish golfer Jose Maria Olazabal, heading from Augusta after the Masters to his next tournament in South Carolina, was clocked speeding and fined $US621 ($A637), authorities said.

The incident occurred on Monday, when Olazabal, the European Ryder Cup captain, agreed to follow a deputy to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office and pay the ticket in cash, sheriff’s spokesman David Ehsanipoor said.

Ehsanipoor said on Tuesday that Olazabal, who exceeded the posted 65 miles per hour (about 105km/h) speed limit on the four-lane Georgia highway where he was stopped, apologised and was co-operative. Once the fine was paid he was sent on his way.

USA Today reported Olazabal was clocked at 97ph (156 km/h).

Ehsanipoor said Olazabal wasn’t put in jail but the sheriff’s department did photograph him as it does for anyone brought in on a citation.