Hole-in-one
Graeme McDowell's first ace on tour was tremendous, and even better was the reaction
Graeme McDowell reacts to his hole-in-one on the 17th green during the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Mike Ehrmann
AVONDALE, La.—Graeme McDowell finally has a hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. Even better was the reaction.
Playing the 216-yard 17th at TPC Louisiana during Friday’s second round of the Zurich Classic, the Northern Irishman hit a drawing 4-iron that landed on the green, rolled out to the back pin, caught the edge of the cup and fell into the hole.
When it did, McDowell’s teammate Matthew Wallace grabbed McDowell by the shoulders, shook him and the two started jumping around. The ace was the first for McDowell on the tour. It also came after he’d casually bent down to pick up his tee before the ball even hit the putting surface.
“I would have been happy with anything dry there,” he said to a nearby camera. “But I’ll take the 1.”
Making the ace even sweeter? It propelled the duo into the top 20 on the leaderboard during Friday’s foursomes play.
It also came on the toughest hole on the course. Prior to McDowell’s eagle, the long hole over water had yielded just four birdies all day, compared to 35 pars and 19 bogeys or worse.
The ace moved McDowell and Wallace back into red figures for the day at one under and seven under for the tournament overall.