08 September 2023 , 22:32
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An American golfer named "Jeff" appears to have become the second-known player to hit a hole-in-one on a par-four at TPC Scottsdale's 17th.
A viral video on social media shows the mononymous man sprinting from the tee to the green to check whether he had done the nigh impossible. Per the PGA 's website, the chances of someone acing a par-four are six million to one.
Only one professional player has ever previously done so on the Tour. Another American, Andrew Magee, historically made an Albatross on that same hole during the 2001 Phoenix Open.
And that 332-yarder came with more than a stroke of luck to it. The story goes that Magee's drive made it into the cup after colliding with compatriot Tom Byrum 's putter and rebounding around eight feet.
While no footage exists of that scarcely believable moment in time, fortunately, two decades later, nothing happens without someone filming it on a smartphone. And that is just what a couple of Jake's golf buddies did.
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The minute-long clip shared by someone called Cooper Opheim is captioned 'I love golf' and begins with the protagonist running alongside his friends on a golf cart. They urge Jake to "just run" as he still has his driver in hand while sprinting up the fairway. "I think it might have went in," one exclaims.
The footage then flips to the front-facing camera to show a moustached man begin providing play-by-play commentary. Explaining the context, he starts by saying: "We might have a hole-in-one on a par-four. Jake just hit one."
Jake's reaction after realising was priceless
His golf buddies embraced him as the celebrations continuedWhile scanning for a visual of the ball, the realisation suddenly dawns on our videographer. "Holy s***, holy s***, it's nowhere, it's nowhere," as they approach the 17th hole.
His friend then urges him to stop the cart, which soon halts following a cartoonish screeching of the brakes. They then take off towards the green. As the man with the moustache and Jake converge on the hole from different angles, the camera briefly flashes down towards the cup. And there it is.
Screams of jubilation ensue as the quartet all embrace each other, and Jake throws his arms up in celebration. The man of the moment then briefly bends down to tie his shoelace before finally pulling the ball out of the hole.
So Jake joins Magee in the exclusive club. And multiple other PGA players have come ever so close to swelling those numbers further over the last decade.
Jason Kokrak is another in there alongside Jake after acing a 409-yard par-four at the Tour's McGladrey Classic in 2013. However, what separates him and Magee is that it went down during the preceding pro-am rather than the tournament itself.
Aaron Baddeley also aced the 17th at the Valero Texas Open two years later. However, it was his second drive after initially ending up out of bounds for a score of three.