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Tiger Woods made his first hole-in-one in 20 years in a round with Fred Couples over Thanksgiving
Christian Petersen
Tiger Woods' game failed to produce fireworks in his match with Phil Mickelson at Shadow Creek, showing the rust one would expect from a soon-to-be 43-year-old who hasn't played inside the ropes in two months. However, according to the 14-time major winner, the real show happened before the match began.
Speaking to ESPN's Bob Harig at this week's Hero World Challenge, Woods relayed that he made his first hole-in-one in 20 years during a practice round with Fred Couples.
"Some of the best years of my career and I never made one,'' Woods told Harig.
Woods recorded the ace at the par-3 second hole at the Madison Club in La Quinta, Cali., hitting a 5-iron from 210 yards. Along with Couples, Tiger's son Charlie was on hand for the pre-Thanksgiving trek. (Also of note: Mav McNealy broke the Madison Club course record that afternoon after shaking Woods' hand on the driving range.)
That two-decade gap is somewhat astounding, given Woods has been the statistically-best iron player in golf during that span. Conversely, Woods said it was his 20th-career ace. Not a particularly paltry total.