Former champ Anna Davis misses ANWA cut by one after slow-play (!) penalty

Anna Davis was involved in a rules debacle for the second year running at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. 

Davis, who was victorious at the prestigious event in 2022, was involved in a bizarre incident last spring. 

The golfer received a pair of two-stroke penalties for incorrectly lifting, cleaning and placing her golf ball whilst in the rough. 

Per Model Local Rule E-3, the competitors were only allowed to play preferred lies from areas cut to the fairway height or less. 

The debacle resulted in Davis, then 16 years old, being docked four shots. She missed the cut by two. 

This year, Davis cruelly missed the cut at the ANWA again, this time by one stroke after being penalised for playing too slowly. 

The alleged slow-play came on the 17th hole. In a statement, rules official Jim Hyler said: 

“Anna Davis was assessed a one-stroke penalty for violation of the Tournament’s Pace of Play Policy. Her group, which included Lottie Woad and Maria Jose Marin, was notified that they were out of position multiple times during their second round. 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.”

The penalty led to Davis returning a scorecard of 6-over 78, meaning she won't get to play the final round on Saturday at Augusta National. 

At the time of publication, the 18-year-old is yet to respond to the penalty. 

After 36 holes, England's Lottie Woad has a two-shot lead. Woad returned scores of 68 and 71 to reach 5-under. 

Gianna Clemente was second. Swedish phenom Ingrid Lindblad was also inside the top-10. 

Scotland's highly-rated youngster Hannah Darling is also in the mix.  

Elsewhere, Rachel Heck, playing in what could possibly be her last ANWA after announcing she won't turn professional, missed the cut by one stroke with her father on the bag. 

ANWA leaderboard:

Woad -5

Clemente, Filler -3

Sambach -2

Ting, Lindblad, Rydqvist, Borja, Darling, Koo, Galitsky, Shoemaker -1

View full scores here