This is the Worst Way to Miss Out on Sunday at Augusta

Could this be one of the most unfortunate ways to miss out on playing at Augusta National? It certainly seems like a strong contender.

The reigning 2022 ANWA champion Anna Davis incurred a penalty stroke for slow play during the second round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, as announced by the club on late Thursday afternoon.

This penalty elevated her score to four over for the championship, guaranteeing her one stroke outside the cut line.

This is the second straight year Anna Davis has been hit with a pace-of-play penalty.

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Despite repeated notifications to her group that they were lagging behind, the penalty ultimately led to the golfer posting a six-over 78 in her second round at Champions Retreat. With a two-day total of six over, she found herself just one shot outside the cut line for advancement to the next round at Augusta National on Saturday.

The official statement Augusta gave regarding the rues infringement was shared on X by many astounded onlookers:

‘While being timed, Davis received her first bad time after hole 5 and her second bad time following her second stroke on 17. She was subsequently assessed a one stroke penalty, which was applied on Hole 17’

This marks the second consecutive year that the golfer has been embroiled in a rules dispute at Champions Retreat. In the previous year’s ANWA, she incurred a four-stroke penalty for a preferred-lies infraction during the opening round, where she took the ‘lift, clean and place’ benefit despite being in the rough. Doing this twice in one hole led to a quadruple bogey 9, from which Davis never recovered.

This isn’t the first instance where a young golfer has faced the repercussions of Augusta National’s stringent enforcement of slow-play rules. In 2013, then 14-year-old Tianlang Guan incurred a similar penalty during The Masters.

We’re all for maintain the traditions of Augusta, but this is a tough one to stomach.

Cover Image via Golfweek