‘A Shame’: A Year After Her Historical Win, Golf World Scrutinizes Anna Davis For Her ‘Amateur’ Mistake at ANWA

American amateur golfer Anna Davis has landed herself in trouble. At age 16, Davis triumphed in the third Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April 2022. She defeated Ingrid Lindblad and Latanna Stone, who tied for second place. Davis shot a final round 69 to end one under par. However, this year, she is playing to defend her title, but things went south for her. She was charged with a four-stroke penalty. The fans have reacted to it. Are they supporting her or criticizing her for lies?

Penalty stroke bomb drops on novice Anna Davis

At the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Wednesday morning, Anna Davis’ championship defense had a difficult start. Davis broke two regulations by lifting, cleaning, and placing her ball in the rough, or second cut, on the first hole of the 17-year-old’s opening round at Champions Retreat, the par-4 first on the Island nine. GolfChannel.com, which spoke to several witnesses, broke the story first. Golf Monthly has posted an Instagram update regarding the same.

Read More: How to Watch Anna Davis Try and Defend Her History-Making ANWA Title

They gave Davis a four-stroke penalty after mistakenly playing preferred lies in the rough on the 1st hole. While some of the golf fans were feeling sad for the teenager, others were against her actions. A user said, “Its sad but rule is a rule. Learn from it. Its just the 1st round anyways” followed by, “🤦🏻‍♂️ only an amateur would do that.” The disappointment of fans was visible, but compassion was not gone. “It’s a shame…her and her caddie made the same mistake twice….can’t believe one of her playing partners didn’t see her do it the first time…..she battled back. I hope she makes the cut!!!”

However, a fan gave it a funny twist and commented, “Didn’t know Patrick Reed was playing in women’s golf 🫡” But the fans were ready to overlook her mistakes and give her another chance. They also blamed the officials. “she is going to learn by making mistakes,” “Officials need to make the rules more clear bad officials,” and “She handled this with class.” Earlier, the golf world was displeased by her ‘gross’ comment for the Masters menu, but here, they were supportive.

How it all went down for the teenage golfer?

According to a memo from the competitions committee, preferred lies are available for the first two rounds but only in “areas cut to fairway height or less.” On Tuesday night, it was announced to the players that Model Local Rule E-3, which permits favored lies, would be implemented. When Davis teed off on Wednesday, she said she was aware the MLR was in place even though she had not seen the formal memo. She did, however, add that she consulted her strolling scorer. “if we were doing it like everywhere, but I guess he didn’t know. But he said, ‘Yeah, we were.’ So whatever. It happens.”

It’s important to remember that Davis has previously participated in youth competitions where the MLR was also used in the rough. However, Davis bogeyed the opening hole, but on the fourth tee, a tournament official informed her that she would probably face two two-shot penalties, one for each infraction, making her new total on the hole a quintuple-bogey 9. She then played the par-4 fourth hole and recorded a double bogie.

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What are your thoughts on the penalty? Did she deserve it? And do you think she will improve in the future? Please share your views in the comments below.