AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 29, 2023

Anna Davis

Quick Quotes

Q. Not to start off on a down note, but could you take us through what happened on the 1st hole and what the ruling ended up being.

ANNA DAVIS: Right. So preferred lies were only in the fairway today, and I learned that after the 1st hole. On my first drive, I was in the rough, did my little thing. There's mud on it. My second shot in the rough, same thing. So that was a four-shot penalty right there.

Little rough start to the day, but that's all right, it happens. It's a learning experience.

Q. When did you become aware that you had made an infraction?

ANNA DAVIS: Hole 4.

Q. On the tee box?

ANNA DAVIS: Yes.

Q. How tough was it to -- what was your reaction, and how tough was it to regroup after that?

ANNA DAVIS: Well, if you look at my score on the 4th, you'll kind of see how that affected me. I mean, it happens. I was a little taken aback.

I had a good round after that. I had a good round if you don't count the 1st hole.

Q. Does that give you some confidence and some momentum?

ANNA DAVIS: Yeah. My game feels in a good place. I mean, obviously there was a little bit of misfortune, but that's golf.

Q. What was the self talk like after 4 to get yourself back in gear?

ANNA DAVIS: I don't know. I was a little back and forth on that 4th hole. I was trying to like hit my shot on hole 4, but I'm also thinking about the four-shot penalty that I'm getting. So it was kind of back and forth.

But I try to keep a good mindset. It's kind of all you can do.

Q. Did you not see the initial take yesterday from the committee about the lift, clean and place? Had you just not seen it?

ANNA DAVIS: No. I knew we were playing lift, clean and place. I asked my 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.

Q. Have you ever had this kind of adversity before in your career?

ANNA DAVIS: It happens. It's golf. I mean, what can you do?

Q. I was just curious if you had overcome something before to win a tournament?

ANNA DAVIS: No, I don't think so. We could start now, though, right? There you go.

Q. Are you fired up a little bit to kind of go out there? I mean, I know you can't try any harder than you do, but are you a little bit fired up about wanting to stay in contention?

Is the frustrating thing that you're kind of right there about this?

ANNA DAVIS: Kind of. I'm determined to have a good round tomorrow and play my best, and we'll go from there.

Q. You play some junior events in bad weather where they do it through everything, right? Except bunkers.

ANNA DAVIS: Yes.

Q. I talked to you yesterday about how important the mental side of the game has been for you, especially from the last year. It was put to the test right away.

ANNA DAVIS: Right.

Q. I was just wondering nerves, expectations on the 1st tee, what were you feeling, all of this stuff aside? And how much were you able to lean on how much you've been working on this mental part of your game?

ANNA DAVIS: I was talking to my caddie about this. I literally talked about mental game all week and how important it is, and now that's being tested.

After that happens, it's kind of like all you can do is have a positive mindset and go from there.

Q. What were you feeling nerves-wise on that 1st tee? Talking about those expectations that other people have on you.

ANNA DAVIS: I was a little nervous. I was more cold than nervous. Yeah, I think the nerves were there, but after like the first two holes, I was feeling all right. Then I wasn't. But now I am again. I'm feeling all right now, so yeah.

Q. How do you know your caddie?

ANNA DAVIS: Family friend. We play at the same golf club in San Diego.

Q. Is he a good player?

ANNA DAVIS: Yes.

Q. How did he handle the penalty?

ANNA DAVIS: I don't know. He was like trying to take the blame. I was like it's all right. It's all right. It's okay.

No, we were just talking about it, and we're like it's okay. You can't do anything about it now. Just play the rest of the 14 holes and then go from there.

Q. What's his name?

ANNA DAVIS: Ryan.

Q. Do you feel the love from the crowd this week?

ANNA DAVIS: Yeah, I was standing on 18, it's kind of cool to see the whole atmosphere and the culture of this place. Yeah, I definitely feel the love.

Q. How different is the golf course this year over last year? I know the greens aren't as mature as they are now? I know we had a lot of bad weather last year, a little bit of rain coming up in this tournament. What's the difference that you've seen?

ANNA DAVIS: The greens are softer. They're not as new. They're a little more receptive. They're not softer.

I think with the fairways and stuff it's kind of the same as last year because last year was pretty wet too and we weren't getting much rollout, especially the second day. So kind of the same thing.

There's a few different like tee box locations that I haven't played from. Last year we didn't play from. Yeah, I think it's still a decent course.

Q. Are you almost relearning this golf course and last year what you saw maybe doesn't apply?

ANNA DAVIS: A little bit, yeah. There were a few shots today where I was like, oh, I need to land this like ten yards short. No, like that was last year. You don't need to do that.

Yeah, but it's definitely spinning a lot more, so yeah, I would say so.

Q. What was the best shot you hit post-4th hole? You made some birdies. What was the best shot?

ANNA DAVIS: Hole 7, hole 8, I hit it to like four and five feet. So it was a good comeback.

Q. That's a short par-4 with the bunker left? I think Emilia hit one tight there too.

ANNA DAVIS: Yeah, she did.

Aside from hole 1, I played pretty good today. I hit a lot of shots close. I think the putter wasn't really rolling, but I hit good shots today. That's kind of what I have to keep in mind going into tomorrow.

Q. Do you normally play a nice little draw?

ANNA DAVIS: All the time, every shot (laughter).