From the rules-they-should’ve-changed file, Cheyenne Knight’s divot incident on the par-4 16th at the Indy Women in Tech Championship might sound familiar. With water down the left-hand side, Knight piped a perfect drive down the center of the fairway and pulled 8-iron for her second shot.
The former Alabama standout stood about 10 feet behind the ball taking practice swings when her divot went sailing toward the ball and knocked it 5 inches forward.
A stunned Knight immediately thought of a PGA Tour tweet of Hudson Swafford doing the same thing that went viral. As she called for an official, Knight hoped this was among the many rules the USGA had changed.
Nope.
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Under Rule 9.4, Knight incurred a one-stroke penalty and had to move the ball back to its original position.
“They’ve changed every other rule,” said Knight, “but they don’t change that rule?”
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It was Knight’s only bogey of the day. She finished the event in a share of 61st. Knight came into the Indy stop No. 117 on the money list and figures she needs a top-10 finish in Texas next week to avoid going back to LPGA Q-School.
“If next week I have a really good finish and I come up 1,000 short,” said Knight, “me hitting that divot is costly.”
Knight said she can laugh about it now, but a routine that she’s had since the age of 9 might get permanently changed.
