The Loop

Shot of a lifetime comes at a small price

February 05, 2011

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- It was a particularly wild ride for Jarrod Lyle as he finished up his second round on Saturday, making his first hole-in-one as a professional with an 8-iron on the Great American Scream Machine known as the 16th at TPC Scottsdale.

"Of all the holes to have a hole-in-one in the world, this is probably the best one you can think of," said the 29-year-old Aussie who finished 36 holes at four under par, 10 shots off the pace of Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey.

"I probably carried on down there but it's just one of those things where the crowd spurs you on a little bit and I was trying to spur the crowd on a little bit, too, to make it as loud as possible. It was just an incredible feeling."

One that may come at a cost, however. "When I saw it bounce and then bounce a second time, I thought, this is pretty close, and then it disappeared and I'm like, holy hell, it's in. Just carried on and cheered and screamed and I think I dropped a naughty word up there. I was just so excited that I didn't realize the camera was about three feet in front of my face," he said, "so there might be a letter in my locker next week."

-- *Jim Moriarty    *