Louis Oosthuizen made one of the quirkiest holes-in-one in major golf history on a final on Sunday at the Masters that saw an unprecedented three aces at the 16th hole.
Ireland's Shane Lowry, pictured on Apr 7, 2016, produced the first
Masters hole-in-one at the 16th hole in four years. (AFP/Jim Watson)
AUGUSTA: Louis Oosthuizen made one of the quirkiest
holes-in-one in major golf history on a final on Sunday (Apr 10) at the
Masters that saw an unprecedented three aces at the 16th hole.
The South African watched playing partner JB Holmes go close
at the 170-yard Redbud hole and then saw his own ball trickle down,
nudge Holmes' ball billiard-style out of the way, and dive in on the
follow-through.
Earlier, Ireland's Shane Lowry and US Davis Cup skipper Davis Love
both aced the same hole, one of the best known par-3s in the game. Lowry
was first in, his 8-iron tee shot landing center green and taking the
slope left to dive into the hole.
Two pairings later, Love followed suit, high-fiving with
playing partner Webb Simpson after his perfect 7-iron. It was his first
hole-in-one at Augusta National in 20 appearances. Lowry's was the 16th
ace at the 170-yard 16th and came in the year 2016 with Love's the 17th
and Oosthuizen sinking the 18th.
"I just hit it in right of the hole and it just took it down
in. I feel pretty lucky to have a hole-in-one around this place, in
this tournament," he said. "I'm sure I'll get a picture somewhere and
frame it in the house and it will be nice memento to have."
Love said that he had heard the roar go up for Lowry's ace
before nabbing his own. "It was a great way to finish my Masters," he
said. "I didn't play well on the weekend, the drive and putter kind of
left me today so I was disappointed not to get a run at getting in again
next year, but nice way to finish."
The three aces brought the total number of holes-in-one at
the Masters to 27 since the tournament was first played in 1934. The
previous Masters hole-in-one was shot by Welshman Jamie Donaldson at the
sixth hole in 2013 and the previous at 16 was by Bo Van Pelt in 2012.
The ace took Lowry to 10-over for the tournament, while Love
improved to 11-over. It was the first time that there had been three
aces on the same day, in the same round at the Masters.
- AFP/de
Post a Comment