Why Masters Officials Need to Learn From Anna Davis’s Penalty at ANWA? Fans Give Their Verdict

The pace of play has been a recurring issue of concern in golf world for some time now. What came to the forefront with Patrick Cantlay’s support for slow play at the 2023 Masters, citing the high stakes and difficulty of the Augusta National Golf Course’s greens, now seems to have caught on at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as well. This has led to a rise in questions about why the Masters, an event held at the Augusta National GC, has not implemented its existent pace-of-play policy till now.

Considering that Anna Davis, the 2022 ANWA champion, was recently punished with a one-stroke penalty for slow play at the event and consequently missed her chances to feature in the final round at Augusta National this Saturday, questions about the Masters’ resistance to the matter and the recusal of Patrick Cantlay for the same last year have become increasingly loud.

The penalty has led to widespread questions, citing the need for such enforcement at the larger PGA Tour and LPGA Tour levels as well as the quotient of fairness concerning the Davis decision. A sect of netizens has raised questions regarding how if “the rule isn’t ever enforced, it becomes a story. And to be fair to Anna, if it’s never enforced, why speed up?”

Davis was given two warnings before the final decision to penalize her under the tournament’s Pace of Play Policy came to light. Talking about Davis, Jim Hyler, the tournament rules chairman, said, “While being timed, Davis received her first bad time after playing her second stroke on hole No. 5 and received her second bad time following her second stroke on hole No. 17. She was subsequently assessed a one-stroke penalty, which was applied on hole No. 17.”

It’s not like the Masters has not punished players for slow play in the past. In 2013, in a historic move, the event held at the ANGC punished Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur, making Masters history as its youngest player on the roster ever, with a one-stroke penalty for slow play.

But the persisting problem lies in a loose execution of the existing principles, even refusing the likes of Patrick Cantlay in its last edition, who have voiced their strong support for taking as much time as required. Therefore, the need for a more stringent framework, like the one that the PGA Tour is attempting to implement this year, has been suggested. Here’s what the fans have opined regarding the matter.

Fans seem to agree with the ANWA’s decision

The slow play policy has existed without enforcement for some time now; however, things seem to be changing. The Ladies European Tour as well as the DP World Tour have become stricter over the last year to curb the pace of play problem. They have even imposed hefty fines and big penalties in furtherance of their decision to speed up the process and act in favor of the greater good. Hannah Gregg, a LET golfer, wrote, “I will say the LET has a new slow play policy this year, and they are enforcing it big time. As a player, I think it’s great.”

This has led to debates centered around how the Masters is not implementing the existing rules as well as they should, thus calling into question the fairness of such a decision for golfers like Davis, when similar standards have not applied to golfers like Cantlay or even Tiger Woods! A fan wrote, “Let’s see if Augusta penalizes a Cantlay for slow play ….(They won’t. Anyone other than Tiger woulda been DQd for his “mistake” in 2013). Much easier to pick on women and teenagers.”

Davis was given two warnings before the penalty. This has become an immensely important ground of support to implement the same for the PGA Tour end of things by the fans. Considering that the rule has been in existence beforehand, albeit unenforced. A fan wrote, “If only they fined PGA Tour players for slow play.” However, the Tour already seems to be taking cognizance of the long-existing matter. The Player Advisory Council (PAC) has recently announced that it has instituted an Average Stroke Time infraction failing, which would pave the way for heavy fines and big penalties.

Yet another fan wrote, “Brian Harman, we’re coming for you.” Thus highlighting the need to enforce the rule on the PGA Tour’s slow players like Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, and Wyndham Clark. The flair to make the pace of play problem a more instituted and strict rule was evident in most fans.

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