There is something about a hole-in-one. And yet, in all these years of covering the sport, I have seen most professionals trying to be dismissive about the perfect shot off the tee, when the truth is that everyone gets excited about them.
All those pros who act cool and brush off an ace saying it was just a fluke, actually remember each and every one they have scored in their life with remarkable clarity. But there are some holes-in-one that truly are more unforgettable than others, and in the past week, we have witnessed two of them.
Interestingly, both the aces were made outside any tournament, which meant there was no live television coverage, but we were still able to watch the shots thanks to social media.
The first one came at the inauguration of a new Par-3 course at Bluejack National Golf Course in Houston. Tiger Woods is the designer of the golf course and he was there for the function, attended by hundreds of people and some junior golfers.
As part of the ceremony, the juniors were to play the course with Woods watching. The honour to hit the first tee shot belonged to 11-year-old Taylor Cozier. It couldn’t have been easy for Cozier – not only was his whole community watching, but also a 14-time major champion.
11-year-old hits the opening shot on Tiger Woods' new golf course, gets a hole-in-one! Unreal. pic.twitter.com/QkOC5J9gf8
— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) March 3, 2016
But as it happened, he hit a superb tee shot, which landed on the green and tracked straight into the cup. The crowd went berserk, and so did Woods, who ran up to Cozier and hugged him screaming: “Inaugural shot and he holes it!” It’s one shot that Cozier is never going to forget in his life.
Five days later, on Monday after the WGC-Cadillac Championship, some of the biggest names in the game gathered at the Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for the Els for Autism Pro-Am.
After the tournament, the professionals gathered for a $1 million Hole-In-One Challenge. An ace would get that money for Els’ charity foundation. After 16 players tried and failed, including the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Luke Donald, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, it was Rickie Fowler’s turn. The 26-year-old borrowed a wedge from Donald, and dumped the ball straight into the hole for what was truly a million-dollar shot.
Rarely has such an outpouring of joy been witnessed on a golf course than when the whole group of professional golfers, invited guests and fans mobbed Fowler. Els led the celebration, picking up the American and then hugging him as he said: “This man is my hero.”
Surely, Fowler will hit hundreds of better shots on the golf course, but this one will always retain a special place in his heart.
. @RickieFowler's to-do list on Monday:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 8, 2016
✔️ Hit a hole in one
✔️ Win $1 million for charity
✔️ Hug @TheBig_Easy https://t.co/VXKpaBtOc0
SHARAPOVA EFFECT
Obviously, tennis star Maria Sharapova is the talk of the sporting world after admitting to have tested positive for a banned substance.
Meldonium was the culprit, a drug used in Eastern European countries for heart and diabetesrelated conditions, but also known to improve, according to US National Library of Medicine, “rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activations of central nervous system functions”.
Those should help a golfer as well, but it was revealed that the drug is still not on the banned list of the PGA Tour. Apparently, it was banned by WADA after October last year, which is when PGA Tour last updated its list.
The PGA Tour needs to act fast and update their list, especially in view of such a high-profile case as Sharapova’s.
A SYMBIOTIC RELATION
Last week, the PGA Tour and LPGA announced a “strategic alliance agreement”, which led a few critics to raise their eyebrow.
The announcement could lead to joint events and more coordinated marketing efforts, but the feeling was that LPGA would piggy-back on the financially successful PGA Tour. But Commissioner Tim Finchem gave some very good reasons why the move was mutually beneficial.
Finchem said there were two very apparent things that the PGA Tour can learn from the ladies – how to make themselves a global Tour, and how to grow the game.
It’s now well known that ladies golf is one of the fastest growing sport in the US, while men’s participation has reached a plateau. And the LPGA has truly become a global Tour with events in Australia, a massive two-stage Asian leg, and events in Europe too. They really have done it even better than the European Tour.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“You’ve switched to the dark side, I see” – Jordan Spieth was not going to let Rory McIlroy go lightly after the Northern Irishman changed his putting style to left-hand-low, just like the American.
