Abraham Ancer given two-shot penalty at the Masters

Former Australian Open champion Abraham Ancer has been given a two-stroke penalty at the Masters for grazing sand before bunker shot on the 15th hole.

The Augusta National Golf Club competition committee issued the penalty after he unintentionally rubbed the sand with his club before he hit his shot from the greenside bunker on the par-5 15th hole in the first round of Masters 2021.

The Mexican's score on the 15th hole thus increased from bogey six to triple-eight, and his first-round one-over 73 a three-over 75.

Though, It is clearly mentioned in the rule book Under Rule 12.2b (1) that before making a stroke at a ball in a bunker, a player must not:

→ Deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake, or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the next stroke.

The 30-year-old Ancer issued a statement on Twitter about his version of the situation before his second round began.

“I was just informed that I have been assessed a 2 stroke penalty for unintentionally grazing the sand in my backswing on hole 15. While I’m gutted, I can’t wait to get after it tomorrow.” Ancer tweeted.

Prior to learning of the penalty, Ancer said of his round, “I’m not mad or disappointed. I feel like I played pretty solid for how I hit it.”