This is probably one of the more disliked rules in the game by golfers of all skill levels. After all, hitting the fairway is what you're trying to do when you tee off. So you stripe a drive down the fairway, and through sheer bad luck you wind up in a divot left by another golfer. Why should you be punished for doing what you're supposed to do (hitting the fairway)?
This strikes many golfers as unfair. Isn't a divot - particularly one filled with sand - ground under repair?
No, actually, a divot is not ground under repair, at least not according to the Rules of Golf as they are currently written.
Rule 13 is titled "Ball Played as It Lies." Rule 13-1 states: "The ball must be played as it lies, except as otherwise provided in the Rules."
And nowhere in the rules is a ball sitting in a divot "otherwise provided" for; no exception from "ball played as it lies" for divots exists. Therefore, there is no free relief for a ball sitting in a divot hole, even when that divot is in the middle of the fairway.
Related:
Tip: How to hit out of a divot
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