Did golfers 'blag' their way into N Korea? Published duration 4 November 2016

image copyright lupinetravel.co.uk image caption Mr Ruig said the caddy told them they had "brought shame" on his family

The story of two Australians who conned their way into a North Korean golf tournament by posing as world-class players has been widely reported.

College friends Morgan Ruig and Evan Shay, both 28, told Australian media they pretended to be national players to get into the game.

News sites around the world, including the BBC , picked this.

But it has since emerged they most likely simply joined an organised tour, which included a golf tournament.

"We were very nervous handing our passports over at the border. There are stories of people not coming home," Mr Ruig had told the Courier-Mail newspaper on Thursday.

He said they were chaperoned throughout their five-day trip which included a tour of the capital, where they placed a bouquet at a monument to the country's leaders.

They performed badly, Mr Ruig said, prompting his caddy to say he had "bought great shame to my family".

Mr Ruig also told Yahoo Sport that officials "thought it was quite funny", and that they had no problems leaving the country afterwards.

"I wouldn't recommend it to a light-hearted traveller. It was pretty hardcore but it was an amazing experience."

But it has since emerged that the men simply joined a two-day "DPRK Amateur Golf Open" organised by a UK-based travel company Lupine Travel.

The event they entered is advertised as being "open to all amateur golfers" except South Korean passport holders, and costs between £749 ($930) and £1,349, not including club hire and tips.

Golf magazine quoted Dylan Harris from Lupine Travel as saying the men had never pretended to be professional golfers, but when some North Koreans asked if they were, "they just decided to go along with it".

"They didn't prank the North Koreans. They pretty much just pranked the media," Mr Harris said.

Mr Ruig and Mr Shay did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment on Thursday, nor did Lupine Travel.