Abraham Ancer penalized after Masters first round over this - Fox News

Abraham Ancer finished the first round of the Masters on Thursday tied for 53rd but wasn’t feeling great after learning he was getting penalized for a seemingly innocuous shot.

Ancer said he was going to receive a two-stroke penalty for hitting the sand in his backswing while he was trying to finish up hole No. 15.

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"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," he tweeted.

Ancer posted a video in the tweet showing his club hitting the sand during his swing. He appeared to be surrounded by sand at the time of the swing, making it nearly impossible for him not to hit it.

The Augusta National competition committee released a statement on Ancer’s infraction, according to Golf.com.

"After Mr. Ancer had signed his scorecard and exited the scoring area, video evidence was reviewed by the Committee regarding a potential breach of Rule 12.2b(1), which states that touching sand in a bunker right behind the ball results in a penalty," officials said.

"The touching of the sand was deemed visible to the naked eye. Had this not been the case, the video evidence would have been disregarded and a penalty would not have been applied."

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Ancer initially finished the round one stroke over par, but the penalty set him back to three strokes over par.

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