Augusta, J.A.; , Apr 4 (US): Tranquil model under her bucket hat, 16-year-old Anna Davis roared away around noon on the 9th at Augusta National without a ghost and seemingly without a care.
Only after she finished 3-under 69 at the Masters’ home did her nerves start while watching the final two sets at Augusta National Women’s Amateur, AP reports.
She thought putting on the 12-foot-tall jumper that slipped out of the cup might cost her.
Then I watched from the scoring booth as Latana Stone delivered a two-shot lead with two playing holes by making a double 17th lane bogey and a pine straw bogey on the last hole, making Davis the youngest champ of the tournament. Gentlemen’s house.
“I don’t think it was processed after I won here, but it’s very surreal, honestly,” Davis said. “I can’t even fathom what just happened. It all happened so fast.”
And I think it was just a year ago when Davis, the left crossbar from East San Diego, jumped into the national picture with her first AJGA title, followed by the girls’ junior championships in Valhalla.
This is where her dad asked her to wear a bucket hat because the Kentucky sun was shining on her nose. Now she’s wearing one all the time—and so did the entire Davis clan watching her win on the biggest stage in golf with great closure and a little help.
That came from Stone, an LSU rookie who seemed to win this with a tee shot that picked up the slope on a par-3 16 and fed to 3 feet for a birdie and two shots.
And then everything came undone. I went with a wedge instead of a 9 iron from a bullish lane on the 17th, ignited it and left it short. Her strong tone of voice was above a deep vault full of holes and she ran to the trailing edge of the green. I put up three times for a double bogey to fall into a tie with Davis.
“I was more nervous watching her than playing my tour there,” Davis said.
Stone drove her into pine straw, did well to get to the front of the green and then snapped hard. She didn’t get a chance to shoot her 15 feet to force the playoff.
“It’s just heartbreaking, you know?” Stone, who shared a long and tearful hug with USC freshman Amary Avery, is one of five players to have had a lead at some point.
“I kind of knew where I stood at 17, and I was just thinking, ‘Dismiss.’ I didn’t have the right club and I left myself in tough ups and downs,” she said. “I was trying to be aggressive and I kind of lost it. I thought I could get him back at 18, but I had a lot going on in my head with what I was in.”
She closed in with a 72 and tied for the second time with her LSU teammate, Ingrid Lindblad, who missed an 18 from a shelter in Fairway and had to settle in a 68.
Davis was the only player to finish under 1 under 215, and the win came with a big surprise: She was excluded from the US Open Women’s Championships at the Pine Needles in June.
“This is crazy,” she said.
Davis started her week at the Champions Retreat, where the opening two rounds took place, by saying that she doesn’t know most of the players on the field because of her age.
They all know her by now with her cute head and soft touch around the greens, especially a solid slice from behind the 17th green for the equivalent of keeping her in the chase.
She got into the mix with an 8 iron that landed near the hole on the 12th of a par-3 for a 4-foot-tall bird, and her wedge that rode the hills to 3 feet for a 13th bird.
“I don’t think I’ve played in front of that many people,” Davis said. “I wasn’t too nervous. I knew I was underdog on the field. I didn’t have a lot of pressure to do really well. I was just out there having fun.”
Beatrice Wallen of Florida State, who started the final round with a tie with Stone evenly, closed in with a 73 and tied for fourth place alone with Amari Avery (72) and Benedita Moresco (71).
Davis is a sophomore in high school who still doesn’t have a driver’s license and can’t even talk to college recruits until June. Two victories last year enabled her to be part of the Junior Solheim squad and the Junior Ryder Cup.
In three AJGA events this year, she placed second, fourth and third, rising to No. 100 in the women’s amateur world rankings.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley presented her with the trophy – there was no green jacket for that win – and presented her as part of the Augusta National winners.
“I want to be the best in the world,” she said.
Davis doesn’t watch much TV, including golf. Her only memory of the Masters was at the home golf shop in 2019 watching Tiger Woods come off the 18th hole to win a fifth and most likely Masters title.
On this day, she kept some memories of her own.