Tag: double eagle

Watch: Nick Hardy hoops an albatross at 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship

The only thing better than an albatross is hooping an albatross.

The only thing better than an albatross is hooping an albatross.

You gotta see this video.

Nick Hardy sized up his second shot on the par-5 17th just perfect during Friday’s second round of the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

“Dangerous front-right hole location,” Johnson Wagner said on the Golf Channel telecast.

No problem for Hardy, who took any danger out of the shot by dunking his ball with a 7-iron from 180 yards.

The PGA Tour reports that it’s the first albatross in tournament history and the fifth on Tour this season.

Eric Axley makes an albatross in Monday qualifying to earn spot in Furyk & Friends

Axley holed out from the fairway on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley.

Eric Axley, among the 50 golfers entered in the Monday qualifier for the PGA Tour Champions event this week, is moving into the main field after one of golf’s rarest shots.

He’s one of three moving on after he shot a 66 to finish a shot behind Kris Blanks. Garrett Willis shot 67 to be the third golfer to get into the field at the 2024 Constellation Furyk & Friends at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida.

Axley, though, has the best story to tell. He was 3 under with just two holes left and on the outside looking in before he made some magic happen, holing out from the fairway for a 2 on the par-5 17th hole, a 499-yard par 5 on the Dye’s Valley course at TPC Sawgrass.

That’s right, he made an albatross to jump a handful of golfers and secure a spot this week.

Having just turned 50 in April, Axley has only played in four senior circuit events this summer. He has one PGA Tour victory, the 2006 Valero Texas Open, making him one of 16 left-handers to win on the PGA Tour. He also has two Korn Ferry Tour wins.

The odds of making what’s also known as a double eagle are about 6-million-to-1 for the average golfer and about a million-to-one for a professional.

Axley competed in Q School last November but came up short in his bid for full status on the Champions tour in 2024.

Jeff Maggert still has the one and only albatross at No. 13 at the Masters

Maggert estimates that “less than 100 people” witnessed the shot.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jeff Maggert finished above par in every round at the 1994 Masters.

He carded the day’s high score (82) on Saturday, and was 19 over as he walked toward Sunday’s 13th hole.

“I remember it well,” said Maggert, 30 years after the achievement. “I had 222 yards to the pin and thought, ‘I’m not playing this safe. I’m going right at it with a 3-iron.’”

Then, magic happened.

With the flag tucked in its Sunday traditional front-ride corner, Maggert’s ball hopped once, bounced twice, hit the pin and vanished.

“I looked at my caddie (Brian Sullivan) and said, ‘Sully, holy cow, that went in,’” Maggert recalled.

As the first pairing off on Sunday, Maggert estimates that “less than 100 people” witnessed the shot.

There’s no video of the hole-out, but one onlooker was John Cherwa, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, who wrote: “Maggert stared in disbelief for a second, then raised his arms. He gave his caddie, Brian Sullivan, a high-five and strode up the fairway to several standing ovations from the early arriving crowd.”

Fifty-seven Masters Tournaments were played prior to 1994, and 30 have been conducted since. No one has duplicated Maggert’s albatross on No. 13.
Following the tournament, media members peppered Maggert about what he planned to do with the ball.

“I’ll probably put it on a shelf, so I can keep the kids and dog from it. Maybe it’ll last a while,” he said.

It didn’t.

Maggert was awarded a crystal bowl for the accomplishment and placed the ball inside. Eventually, the pellet was removed.

“You know, when you have kids,” said Maggert, before pausing. “It was probably hacked into the woods.”

In all, only four double-eagles have been struck at the Masters — one at each par 5:

  • No. 2: Louis Oosthuizen, 2012, final round (4-iron, 253 yards)
  • No. 8: Bruce Devlin, 1967, first round (4-wood, 248 yards)
  • No. 13: Jeff Maggert, 1994, final round (3-iron, 222 yards)
  • No. 15: Gene Sarazen, 1935, final round (4-wood, 235 yards)

“It’s a little surprising that no one else has done it,” Maggert said of his shot at No. 13. “The 13th is the easiest par 5 out there.”

Seven years after his shot at Augusta National, Maggert delivered a second miracle — this time at the 2001 British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

He’s the only player to have two double-eagles at a major championship.

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PGA Tour pros hit the ugliest – and prettiest – shots you’ll see Sunday at 2024 Valspar Championship

Sunday’s final round at the Valspar saw a pair of pros do the unthinkable, both good and bad.

Within 30 minutes during the final round at the 2024 Valspar Championship a pair of PGA Tour players hit the best and worst shots you’ll see from professionals.

First up was Robby Shelton.

Coming off his best season as a professional in 2023, the 28-year-old has been slow to start in 2024 and entered the week off a pair of missed cuts. He played his way to the weekend at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida, and on Sunday hit a shot he won’t soon forget. Shelton made an albatross on the par-5 14th hole after he sunk his approach from 258 yards out in the fairway.

This thing was a laser-guided missile destined to find the hole.

And then there was Peter Malnati, who has made headlines in recent weeks for his thoughts on the future of the PGA Tour and his touching reason for why he uses a yellow golf ball. In contention for his second win on Tour and first since 2015, Malnati found the fairway and pulled a hybrid from the bag for his second shot on the par-5 5th hole. With 291 yards to the cup, Malnati hit one of the uglier non-shanks you’ll see from a pro. You can’t quite call it a top because the ball somehow still went 172 yards, but he sure didn’t catch it clean.

Even the broadcasters were confused about what they had just seen.

Professional golfers: sometimes they do the unthinkable and other times they’re just like us amateurs.

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Charley Hoffman makes an albatross at 2023 Wyndham Championship

It’s a feat more rare than a hole-in-one.

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It’s a feat more rare than a hole-in-one.

Charley Hoffman made an albatross on the par-5 15th hole Sunday during the final round of the 2023 Wyndham Championship.

After a 343-yard drive, Hoffman holed out his second shot from 198 yards over water to a back-right pin at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Hoffman was even par on his round after a bogey, a double bogey and three birdies. The double-circled 2 got him to 3 under and into a tie for 11th. The four-time winner on Tour has a season-best finish of T-14 at the WM Phoenix Open this season.

It’s his first albatross and the fourth on the PGA Tour this season.

  • Charley Hoffman, Wyndham Championship
  • Dylan Wu, Rocket Mortgage Classic
  • Kevin Tway, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
  • Xander Schauffele, The American Express

There have been 35 holes-in-ones season.

PHOTOS: Charley Hoffman through the years

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Yuka Saso makes LPGA’s first albatross in three years at 2023 Drive On Championship

The LPGA’s first full-field event of 2023 has produced the first albatross on the tour in three years.

SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, Ariz. — The LPGA’s first full-field event of 2023 has produced the first albatross on the tour in three years.

In the second round of the LPGA Drive On Championship, Yuka Saso, who played the back nine first, was 217 yards out after her tee shot on the par-5 second hole.

Using a 19-degee hybrid, Saso, the 2021 U.S. Open champ, holed out for an albatross.

“We didn’t really know where it landed,” she said. “So we were just walking to the green and everyone started clapping. But my ball wasn’t on the green so I was like, ‘Why are they clapping? Is it over? Why is everyone clapping if it’s not on the green?’ Then Sei Young [Kim] was walking around also and she looked down and she said it’s in, the ball was in, so that’s how I found out,” Saso said, noting that this was her first albatross.

It’s also the first one on the LPGA since Lyndsey Weaver-Wright recorded one in 2020.

Saso shot a 66 on Friday to get to 8 under and a tie for 12th when she signed her scorecard.

“We all now how hard it is to get one,” she said. “They say you’re lucky if you ever get one in your golf career. I guess I was very lucky to have it.”

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Russell Henley makes sixth albatross in Players Championship history

Sadly, there’s no video of this stupendous shot.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – In a week that has featured a little bit of everything – 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.

Players: Leaderboard | How to watch Monday | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

Sadly, there’s no video of this stupendous shot. Henley ate No. 11 for lunch all week – three birdies and an albatross – 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.

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Abraham Ancer makes an albatross—or is it a double eagle?—at CJ Cup at The Summit

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.

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Mike Modano makes first-ever albatross in American Century Championship, ties for lead

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. — 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 — 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.

Max Homa makes first-ever albatross, brags about it on Twitter

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.

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.

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