Players championship: two golfers score a hole-in-one

Players championship: two golfers score a hole-in-one

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Well, the field at the Players Championship probably had an excellent Friday night, after two players achieved the unlikely feat with a few hours difference.
In the second round of the PGA Tour event, Denny McCarthy was the first player to make a hole-in-one at TPC Sawgrass this year, hitting his tee shot in the 165 yard third with an 8 iron to shoot at the leaderboard.

The ace was only the fifth hole in the tournament’s history and the first of McCarthy’s career on the PGA Tour.

McCarthy plays his sixth tee shot during the second round of The Players Championship.

And then, just a few hours later, Brendan Todd also rolled in his first hole-in-one of his career on the PGA Tour.

The American completed the conquest in the eighth par 3 with an effort of 213 yards with his 5-wood. It was the first hole-in-one in the eighth since Michael Thompson’s ace during the opening round of the 2013 competition.

And after taking the ball out of the hole, Todd seemed to recognize the blow his bank account was about to suffer now that he had to buy drinks for all of his competitors, saying: “It can get expensive.”

For McCarthy, who had two hole-in-one games, but none were competitive, the ace was the crowning moment of an excellent round that catapulted him into contention in the main PGA Tour event.

“It was good to hit a big shot, exactly what I was trying to do and it just disappeared,” said the 28-year-old. “I was very surprised. I think I blurted out, like, ‘Woo!’ I don’t know exactly what I missed, but I looked around and everyone was telling me that I had entered.

“I just had a really good number today for that pin. It was a perfect 8 iron for me, and I just went over and shot it. I was a bit lucky to get in.”

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Todd plays his 18th tee shot.

He arrived this week after losing six of his last eight cuts, but his second round of 69 and a total of 6 below placed him among the leaders.

Lee Westwood hit a bogey-free 6-under 66 to move into the middle lead on Friday with a score of 9 below, one ahead of fellow countryman Matt Fitzpatrick.

Although the chances of professional golfers hitting a hole-in-one are significantly greater than that of the average golfer, they can still do their entire careers without it.

The chances of a tour player hitting a hole-in-one are 3,000 to 1, while for average players it is 12,000 to 1, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry,

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