Golfers have a 1 in 6 million chance of recording an albatross.
Christian Emmerich and Owen Egan can lay claim to one of the most improbable feats in golf. And if there weren’t picture evidence, most folks probably wouldn’t believe their claim.
The duo, Emmerich a senior and Egan a sophomore, play on the Holy Cross men’s golf team, and they were playing a qualifying round Sunday ahead of the team’s season-opening event at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate in Kensington, Connecticut. They stepped to the tee of the par-5 eighth hole at Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton, Massachusetts, not knowing what was about to come. It measured 494 yards from the tees they were playing, and they took an aggressive approach off the tee.
Emmerich’s tee shot settled about 160 yards from the hole, and Egan’s was a bit closer coming in at 125 yards out after going up and over the trees on the dogleg right hole.
Emmerich hit his approach shot first, an 8-iron. It went in the hole.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he told Golfweek.
He and Egan, along with their third playing partner, started celebrating. Then Egan stepped up to his shot.
“I was honestly still shaking from seeing his go in,” Egan said.
Then his 50 degree wedge one-hopped off the rough and rolled onto the green and into the hole.
Two albatrosses. Same hole. Same group.
During a practice round yesterday, Owen Egan and Christian Emmerich BOTH recorded an albatross on the eighth hole đđ#GoCrossGopic.twitter.com/94PuHZaqxj
Holy Cross coach Steve Napoli said he believes alums Willie Turnesa, 1938 graduate who won the 1938 U.S. Amateur, and Paul Harney, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, were both looking down on Emmerich’s and Egan’s shots.
Ferguson had a better chance of being struck by lightning or killed by a shark than making an albatross.
One Oklahoma man is having an unforgettable year on the golf course.
Ryan Ferguson was golfing at Cedar Creek Golf Course at Beavers Bend State Park in Broken Bow when he stepped to the par-4 10th tee and pulled driver. The hole measured at 295 yards.
After he hit the shot, he and his friends couldn’t find the ball, and they assumed he had lost it. Then they looked in the hole, and voila. There it was.
For someone who hasn’t played much golf this year, he couldn’t believe it.
âBefore it got hot, I was only golfing three to four times a month,â Ferguson said. âThis was the first time I golfed this summer.â
Ferguson achieved the feat on Friday, August 26. What’s more incredible, it’s not his first albatross this year. He also aced a par 4 at a course near Idabel, Oklahoma, not too far from his latest hole-in-one.
Ferguson had a better chance of being struck by lightning or killed by a shark than hitting an albatross, according to the PGA. Now, he has two this year.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. â In a week that has featured a little bit of everything â from wacky weather and crazy delays to water balls galore at 17 and an ace, it was only fitting that Monday included its own memorable moment.
Russell Henley did the honors, making an albatross at the par-5 11th hole at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Henley, 32, who started on the back nine, drilled a 294-yard drive to the left side of the fairway. Golf course architect Pete Dye gave golfers options for the second shot at 11. The hole features a split fairway. But Henley threw caution to the wind from 240 yards and opted for the direct route. His second shot cleared the water and sand that guards the green and his ball found nothing but the bottom of the cup.
Sadly, thereâs no video of this stupendous shot. Henley ate No. 11 for lunch all week â three birdies and an albatross â going a combined 6 under on the hole. The 2 on the scorecard at a par 5 was the sixth in tournament history, the third at the 11th hole, the first since Harris English in Round 1 of the 2019 Players (also at 11) and the second albatross on the PGA Tour this season after Abraham Ancer at the CJ Cup.
“If I wasn’t there, it almost sounds like a fish story,” his father said.
Whether itâs called a double eagle or an albatross, a score of 3-under par on a golf hole is close to the gameâs Holy Grail, something few golfers ever come close to achieving.
That was true of 27-year-old Danny Syring of Tampa, Fla., at least until last Sunday. Thatâs when Syring did the unimaginable, making two double eagles in the same round at the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West in La Quinta.
âIf it hadnât happened to me, I wouldnât believe it,â Syring said.
In a foursome with his father Kevin, a PGA professional from New Jersey, and friends Jay and Renate Green of La Quinta, Syring made a 2 on the par-5 11th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course, holing a 6-iron from 200 yards. Then on the demanding par-5 15th hole with its island green, Syring holed a 5-iron from 205 yards.
“If I wasn’t there, it almost sounds like a fish story,” said the elder Syring, a 40-year PGA professional and head pro at Deer Run Golf and Tennis Club in Lincoln, Park, N.J.
âI wouldnât be telling this story unless I actually witnessed this,â Jay Green said. âBut it was just so extraordinary, so unbelievable. Iâve been playing golf for 63 years. I have never seen a double eagle.â
According to Michael Christensen of the website doubleeagleclub.org, Syringâs is only the third recorded instance of a player making two double eagles in the same round. The first was in 1964 and the second in 2015, and both previous times the golfers made two holes-in-one on short par 4s.
Christensen’s website says the odds of making a single double eagle are difficult to determine, with odds quoted around the internet as low as 1 million to 1 and as high as 6 million to 1.
“Some years there might be one or two double eagles on the (PGA Tour) and there might be 15 or 20 holes-in-one,” Christensen said.
“Danny is always making fun of me, because I’ve made 11 aces and he’s never made one,” said the elder Syring. “But I’ve been playing golf for 50 years, and not only have I never had one, I’ve only witnessed two up until that day.”
Danny Syring, center, celebrates his second double eagle of his round last Sunday with his father Kevin, left, and Jay Green of La Quinta, right. (Contributed photo)
Playing from the blue tees of the Nicklaus Tournament Course with his father, Syring put his tee shot on the 490-yard par-5 11th into the dormant Bermuda rough just left of the fairway.
âI had 200 yards, and I hit a kind of high, thin 6-iron,â Syring said. âI hit the ball pretty high, and I always thought thatâs why Iâve never had a hole-in-one. First, Iâm not lucky, and second, I hit the ball so high it comes down and just stops.â
As the foursome reached the green, Syringâs ball wasnât seen on the putting surface.
âMy wife got out of the cart and my wife says, âDanny, where is your ball?â and he said I think it might be in the hole,â Green said. âAnd my wife was the first one to look in the hole and the ball was in the hole.â
âI was pretty excited,â Syring said. âI took a picture and put it on Facebook, hey, I just made a double eagle.â
“When he made the first one, I said to him, that’s like making five aces,” the elder Syring said.
A second albatross
Four holes later, Syring had to take that photo down. On the 516-yard 15th hole, considered one of the toughest holes in the rotation of the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament, Syringâs drive left him in the fairway 205 yards from the cup.
âI hit a 5-iron, because it was a little against the wind,â Syring said. âAnd it looked good. My dad is 62 and he canât see it and the Greens are both older, so I was the only one who could see it.â
Syring tried to convince himself the ball disappeared because it had rolled over a hump that divides the green from left to right.
âHe hits the ball extremely high. If it was a normal kind of trajectory 5-iron, it never could have gone in the hole because it would have hit the front of the green and just ran to the back,â Green said. âAnd I couldnât see where it ended up, because Iâm 74 years old. And Danny said yeah, it might even have been in the hole. And we went up there and the ball is in the hole.â
“It was almost like surreal,” Kevin Syring said. “It was like, there is no way that went in.”
Any clubhouse celebration of the two albatrosses had to be put on hold, because an hourâs frost delay that morning at PGA West meant the father and son had just enough time to toss their clubs in the back of their car and head toward Los Angeles International Airport nearly three hours away to catch flights back to the east coast.
In fact, Syring said the time crunch might have led him to a three-putt on the 16th hole for a bogey and to hit an approach shot into a greenside bunker for another bogey on the 18th hole for a 32 on the back nine and a round of 70.
âI didnât really play that well,â Syring said. âI was 6 under for those two holes and shot 70. If I was making it up, I wouldnât have bogeyed two of the last three.â
A decorated high school player in New Jersey who, like any college player, flirted with the idea of turning pro while playing at the University of Tampa, Syring works for a medical employment recruiting company in Tampa. Syring said he still plays, but maybe no more than three times a month in the last three months.
As for the two double eagles, Syring says he hopes he doesn’t make one the next time he plays.
âWho would believe that?â he laughed.
Despite making the two double eagles, Syring says there is something still missing on his golf resume.
âI would trade one of (the double eagles) for a hole-in-one,â he said.
Abraham Ancer ripped his second shot from 250 yards and then it watched it track to the hole.
Sure, a hole-in-one is cool but the truly rare feat in golf is the albatross, also known as the double eagle, and we got one on Friday.
In the second round of the CJ Cup at The Summit Club in Las Vegas, Abraham Ancer pounded his drive on the par-5 14th hole 300 yards.
That left him 250 yards away to the green and he went with a 4-iron. The hole location was in the back left, which is where he ball was headed after it initially bounced short of the green. It had some pace on it and then found the ridge. Making a big, sweeping left turn, the ball had eyes and it rolled into the cup for a 2.
The National Hole-in-One Registry gives a PGA Tour pro a 3,000-to-1 chance at making a hole-in-one. The Double Eagle Club, in a story by former longtime Golf World writer Bill Fields, reports the odds of an albatross are about 6 million-to-1.
Miguel Angel Jimenez’s tweet about his albatross at the Senior British Open was almost as good as the shot. Almost.
Miguel Angel Jimenez’s tweet about his albatross at the first hole of Saturday’s third round of the Senior British Open at Sunningdale Golf Club (Old) in Berkshire, England, was almost as good as the shot. Almost.
The Mechanic tweeted: “Hit a bomb drive off the 1st. 147 yards left for my second – just a 9 iron. As soon as I hit it I knew it was good, it never left the flag. What a great sound â slam dunk albatross. No better way to start the round. Perfecto!”
Perfecto, indeed, and worthy of an homage to Chi Chi Rodriguez with the sheath of the sword and a little Michael Jackson moonwalk. No one could make it look cooler.
Hit a bomb drive off the 1st. 147 yards left for my second – just a 9 iron. As soon as I hit it I knew it was good, it never left the flag. What a great sound – slam dunk albatross. No better way to start the round. Perfecto ! đĽ
— Miguel Angel Jimenez (@majimenez1964) July 24, 2021
That remarkable start propelled Jimenez to shoot 3-under 67. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead and tied with Germany’s Bernhard Langer. They’re chasing Stephen Dodd, who equaled the lowest round in the history of the Senior British Open by shooting an 8-under 62 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds. The 55-year-old Welshman made four birdies on the first five holes and nine on the day at Sunningdale to improve to 11-under 199.
American Jerry Kelly (68) and Northern Irishman Darren Clarke (70) are Dodd’s closest pursuers.
Mike Modano’s second shot from 200 yards out went in the hole, giving him 10 points and vaulting him into a tie for the lead.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nev. â The best start he’s ever had puts John Smoltz a step closer to realizing a goal he has long held, winning the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe.
Smoltz scored 25 points in Friday’s first round, which put him in a tie atop the leaderboard with Mike Modano.
Smoltz, the former Major League Baseball pitcher and Hall of Famer has always golfed well at Edgewood, but has never won.
He said getting out to a strong start was paramount this year.
Modano made a double-eagle on the par-5 No. 18, the first time that has been done in tournament history, for 10 points on the hole and 25 for the day.
Modano, who said he was about 200 yards out on his second shot on No. 18, was still in disbelief after his round.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. We were struggling between the 6 and 7. I was, like, I just want to try to ride the wind and just avoid Laimbeer’s Lake there and get on the putting surface,” Modano said. “It came off good. My eyesight is shot at 51. So I’m, like, I can’t see things halfway off the club. TJ (Oshie) went crazy. And some people over by the side went nuts. I was like, man, that may have went in. So pretty cool.”
Two-time winner Jack Wagner also had a strong start, scoring 24 points Friday as did Joe Pavelski. Kyle Williams, Vinny Del Negro and Annika Sorenstam each scored 23.
Wagner, 61, is one of two players, along with Jim McMahon, to compete in all 32 celebrity tournaments at Edgewood.
Smoltz made five birdies Friday, worth 3 points each, and had three putts lip out, or he could had an even better round.
The fans are back at Edgewood this year, after not being allowed in 2020, and the energy was palpable.
Especially along No, 17, the beach hole, where boats and fans lined both sides of the fairway and green.
Smoltz noticed the difference.
“It’s awesome. I absolutely love it. With that comes a little bit of nerves,” he said. “The beauty of today, our group was Joe Buck and Joe Mauer and the pace was consistent. So it didn’t feel like the 30-minute, 20-minute waits which really helps me because of my body.
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Smoltz, 57, has been telling anyone who would listen that he really wants to win the ACC.
“I think they thought I was crazy, my life would be incomplete if I don’t win Tahoe. They’re like, ‘you can’t be serious,'” Smoltz said. “I’m serious. This is the event I’ve always wanted. It’s followed my career. I’m supposed to win a Cy Young, and finally did in ’96. But you’re always trying to feel like, when people tell you should win or win a Cy Young and you’re not doing it, even though my expectations are higher â it’s the same feeling here. It’s like, oh, I can’t believe you haven’t won yet. All my buddies back home. I want to be the oldest winner and I can kind of shut them up.”
Sorenstam had an appreciative following Friday. She joked that they are her neighbors.
“The first tee was special. But even throughout the other holes. They’re so positive and cheering on and encouraging. It’s really nice to see that,” Sorenstam said. “It’s not something I’m used to now. And to go up there it makes me want to play well and hit good shots. I’m thankful they came out and are watching and hopefully they’ll have a good time as well.”
The celebrities competing in the celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood this week seem to think Charles Barkley has, indeed, improved at golf.
Barkley, the NBA analyst, Hall of Fame player and a fan favorite, has forever battled his swing and almost always placed last or second to last in the field of about 85-90 celebrities.
But after last year’s tournament, he began working with golf coach Stan Utley, and the talk has been that Barkley’s game was much improved.
That led to the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill to post the following proposition bet: Will Barkley finish among the top 70?
A ‘yes’ opened at 16-to-1, meaning a $100 bet would return $1,600, but betting in support of Barkley was so strong at Caesars and William Hill platforms that the odds kept dropping. When betting closed at the start of Barkley’s first round Friday at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, it was down to 4-to-1.
After Friday’s round, Barkley was tied for 82nd place with minus-16 points.
The 54-hole tournament concludes Sunday. It is televised live on NBC (Saturday and Sunday), as well as live streamed on the NBC Sports app.
On Monday, Max Homa did what a lot of us do on our day off: he played golf. However, he then did something few of us have ever done.
Max Homa teamed up with Talor Gooch for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the lone team event on the PGA Tour.
The pair finished tied for 17th and took home about $37,000 each for their time in the Bayou.
Homa is playing again this week in the Valspar Championship but on Monday, he did what a lot of us do on our day off and he played golf.
Taking a detour northeast from New Orleans before he heads to back south to Tampa, Homa paid a visit to Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, where he then did something that few golfers have ever done.
First ever albatross (I can say that now cuz Iâm in the club) on 11 at Greystone CC. Letâs goooooooo!!! âAnything is possible!â- Kevin Garnett – Max Homa pic.twitter.com/V4BmhlBRRP
Yup, he made an albatross. Some might call it a double eagle, but either way, Homa can add that feat to his list of accomplishments.
What are the odds of making an albatross? About 1 million to one, although if you’re a PGA Tour winner like Homa, your odds are considerably better. By comparison, the National Hole-In-One Registry says a Tour pro has about a 3,000-to-1 chance to make an ace.
Scott Harrington pulled off a rare feat at the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on Thursday when he holed his second shot on the par-5 14th. He drilled a 3-wood from 272 yards and found nothing but the bottom of the cup. …
Scott Harrington pulled off a rare feat at the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on Thursday when he holed his second shot on the par-5 14th.
He drilled a 3-wood from 272 yards and found nothing but the bottom of the cup. Sadly, there’s no video evidence to share of the moment.
It’s the first albatross (or is it called a double eagle?) at the Sanderson Farms since 2010 and just the second one on the PGA Tour this season (Harry Higgs, second round, ninth hole at Silverado’s North Course at the Safeway Open).
“It’s obviously the last thing you’re thinking about with 3 wood in your hand,” Harrington, who signed for 2-under 70, said after his round. “My caddie and I got a good laugh out of it. It’s nice to pick up three [shots] on one hole. It’s pretty cool.”
Albatross or double eagle?
Whatever you want to call it, picking up three strokes on one hole is one of the rarest feats in golf, even moreso than a hole-in-one.
The Double Eagle Club tracks the feat and counts 86 of them by PGA Tour players since 1974, including those made in qualifiers. All but one was scored as a 2 on a par 5 as Andrew Magee (17th hole at TPC Scottsdale in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2001) is the only one to make a  hole-in-one on a par 4 in the history of the PGA Tour.
The term albatross, according to the Double Eagle Club, is the “continuation of the bird theme in naming all under-par scores related to the size of the bird becoming bigger as the score gets lower; i.e. birdie, eagle, albatross.”
During the PGA Tours Safeway Open, Harry Higgs made a walk-off albatross. He finished with a 62 and is in contention after the second round.
NAPA, California â Harry Higgs had a day to remember at Silverado Resort & Spaâs North Course. He capped off a 10-under 62 by holing out his second shot from 230 yards at the par-5 ninth hole for an albatross.
âThere’s not really much to say. I hit my 4-iron solid, it drew a little bit, landed short, rolled in the hole,â he said. âI mean, what a wonderful way to end the day and also just really weird. Being the last hole, it’s so final.â
Higgs said he knew he hit it on the button and then he heard a volunteer stationed just left of the green scream, “It’s in the hole, it’s in the hole!”
âI just took my club and threw it on the ground. It was just full panic,â he said. âYou get so amped up and excited, I might fling that thing and Lord knows where it goes. I’m sure it looked funny and ridiculous. I’m sure it could probably be a ‘not top-10 play’ just based on the poor reaction that I gave it.
“No, I mean, what a great way to finish. I had a little panic freakout, jump for joy and then I threw my club.â
From 230 yards out on his final hole of the day … đ
Once the euphoria dissipated, his mind shifted to what did marking a two on his scorecard do for his chances in the Safeway Open.
“I finished and said, ‘What did we even shoot?’ I felt like I was 6, 7, 8, something like that,â he said. Try 10, as in under and a bogey-free day to boot. âIt was just one of those days where good numbers, good feel, was really exact, didn’t ever push it too far where you could short-side yourself if you mis-hit it. I holed plenty of putts and they were often pretty close, but I holed plenty of putts. There are a few more that I would like to have, I left a couple short throughout the day, but you can’t complain, I just shot 62. If I complain, no one’s going to listen.â
Starting the second round on the back nine, Higgs made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 11 and 12, and then reeled off four birdies in a row beginning at 15. He made the turn in 30. He tacked on a birdie at the third hole when he drained a 14-foot birdie, but then cooled off with five straight pars before his remarkable finish. And what did Higgs do with his albatross ball?
âI signed it and gave it to the volunteer,â he said. âRufus was with us today, I just signed it, âThanks for going with us, 2 on No. 9,â a couple exclamation points, signed it and handed it to him. I figure that was better than me keeping it and losing it.â
It marked the first albatross on the Tour since Johnson Wagner in the first round of the 2019 RSM Classic at the 15th hole, and Higgs became the third player in tournament history to do so.
Higgs recorded one of seven top-25 finishes here a year ago in his rookie campaign, and is searching for his first PGA Tour title. He improved to 13-under 131 and trails Sam Burns by two strokes at the midway point. His final-hole heroics made for an unforgettable round, but Higgs was worried about probably the only potential downside of making an albatross.
âI hope that I can like calm down in an hour or so, so I can take a nap,â he said. âI was looking forward to a nap all day long and I might be too jacked up now to actually fall asleep.â
