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The Amazing Story of the Only Par-4 Hole-in-One in PGA Tour History
Plus More Par-4 Aces on the Other Pro Tours
In the history of the PGA Tour, there has been only one hole-in-one to date on a par-4 hole. It happened at TPC Scottsdale, home of the Phoenix Open (then called the FBR Open). And it happened in an amazing way.
We'll tell that story, plus list some of the other par-4 aces in professional golf. That includes the perhaps even-more-amazing story of back-to-back aces that included a par-4 hole-in-one.
Andrew Magee Made PGA Tour's Only Par-4 Ace So Far
The only hole-in-one on a par-4 hole so far in PGA Tour history? The hole was No. 17 at TPC Scottsdale, the year was 2001, the tournament was the Phoenix Open and the golfer was Andrew Magee. But the circumstances were anything but normal.
Magee, just an average driver of the ball, didn't think he'd be able to reach the green on the hole, which that day measured 332 yards from tee to green. So he didn't wait for the group ahead to clear the green. Instead, he teed up, and, steaming over a double bogey one hole earlier, muscled up. He let loose with the driver, and his golf ball went farther than he expected.
The ball went so far that it ran up onto the green while the group of Steve Pate, Gary Nicklaus (yes, Jack Nicklaus' son) and Tom Byrum were still putting. Magee's ball bounded onto the green and caught Pate by surprise, who jumped out of the way and warned Nicklaus a golf ball was coming. But Byrum was squatting down studying the line of his putt and failed to notice.
Magee's ball ran between Byrum's feet and struck Byrum's putter. The ball ricocheted off Byrum's putter, caromed about eight feet, and dropped right into the cup. Hole-in-one. Ace. And still the only par-4 ace on the PGA Tour, and surely one of the more unusual aces of any kind in tour history.
The incident also produced a fantastic quip from Nicklaus' caddie, Rusty Uresti, who said afterward, "It was the first putt Tom (Byrum) made all day."
Alas, no video exists of Magee's par-4 hole-in-one hitting Byrum's putter or dropping into the cup.
A couple other golfers have come very close to a par-4 ace on the PGA Tour:
- In 2013, Jason Kokrak aced a 409-yard, par-4 hole at the PGA Tour's McGladrey Classic—but not in the tournament itself, rather in the pro-am that preceded the tournament.
- At the 2015 Valero Texas Open, Aaron Baddeley did hole-out with driver from the tee on the par-4 17th hole. Ace, right? No! It was Baddeley's second drive on the hole. He hit his first one out of bounds. So that hole-out with the second drive gave him a score of 3 on the hole.
The First LPGA Tour Par-4 Hole-in-One
The first par-4 ace in LPGA history happened in 2016. At the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, the eighth hole typically played 310 yards. But tournament organizers moved the tees way up one day so golfers could fire at the par-4 green. And they did, given that the hole played only 218 yards. And Ha Na Jang rolled her drive into the cup.
It took around 65 years for the first LPGA par-4 ace, but only a couple months for the second. Two months later, at the 2016 Kia Classic, Minjee Lee aced the 276-yard par-4 16th hole.
Other Tours' First Par-4 Holes-in-One (And a Bonus Ace)
- The first par-4 ace on the Japan Tour happened in 1978. Tommy Nakajima holed-out his drive on the 341-yard, No. 1 hole in The Crowns tournament during the second round.
- The first on the Web.com Tour was Chip Beck's in the 2003 Omaha Classic, on the 315-yard No. 9 hole during the first round.
- The first on the European Tour was Javier Colomo's on the 329-yard No. 9 hole during the 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
- The first on the European Senior Tour was Guillermo Encina's in the 2003 Tunisian Seniors Open, on the 354-yard, No. 11 hole during the second round.
There has not yet been a par-4 hole-in-one on the Champions Tour.
Here's a bonus one worth mentioning: At the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, Sammy Schmitz aced the 290-yard, par-4 33rd hole to go dormie in the championship match. When he won it a hole later, it earned him a place in The Masters.
That Time a Tour Player Made Back-to-Back Aces—One of Them on Par-4
We said that the top that we'd share a story that is perhaps even more amazing's than Magee's PGA Tour par-4 hole-in-one.
That's because this story is about a tour golfer who made back-to-back aces on a consecutive holes, one of which was a par-4!
It was 1971 and the event happened on the precursor to the European Tour (which was founded a year later in 1972). The tournament was the Martini International, an event that existed from 1961-83 and was part of the European Tour from the beginning in 1972. Its winners included Peter Thomson, Christy O'Connor Sr., Peter Alliss, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. It was legit, in other words.
The golfer was John Hudson, a journeyman English player who spent parts of several years on the Euro Tour and later played the European Senior Tour for several seasons.
So: John Hudson is playing the 1971 Martini International. It's the second round and Hudson reaches the 12th hole at Royal Norwich Golf Club in Norwich, England. It's a par-3, 195 yards. He chooses his 4-iron. And boom—hole-in-one.
Hudson proceeds to the next hole, the 13th, where he takes out driver because it's a par-4 (311 yards, downhill from an elevated tee box). And boom—that one rolls into the hole, too! Back-to-back aces, including one on a par-4. Amazing. I imagine Hudson felt both shaken and stirred.
Hudson's feat remains the only known instance of back-to-back aces by the same golfer in the same round in a tournament on one of the world's significant professional tours.
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Source: https://www.liveabout.com/pga-par-4-hole-in-one-1566496