STATELINE, Nev. — His fifth career ace came at a perfect time for Tim Brown: on a course next to a lake.
The former Los Angeles Raiders receiver made a hole-in-one on hole No. 12 Friday at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe.
He didn’t realize it was in the hole at first but soon found out he won the MasterCraft boat on display nearby, worth an estimated $225,000.
His ace on the 143-yard No. 12 hole was Brown’s first in the celebrity tournament. He has played in the ACC for 24 years.
“I didn’t hit it the way I wanted to. I was trying to hit it up to the right and I pulled it a little bit. I was starting to complain and noticed the ball was going at the hole. Of course I didn’t think it was going to go in,” Brown said. “But then the crowd up there went crazy, and I didn’t even know about the boat. I saw the boat there. And Marcus Allen said, ‘Man, you just won a boat.’ I was like, ‘What?’ We really went crazy after that, getting up on the boat dancing doing the whole thing. It was a great moment.”
A HOLE-IN-ONE TO WIN A BOAT! 🤯
Tim Brown hits an unbelievable shot on the 12th hole at the @ACChampionship. pic.twitter.com/kyUlFFixWg
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 12, 2024
Brown finished with 17 points for the round and is tied for eighth place in the 90-player field.
Brown also made an ace on the Par 3 course at Augusta a few months ago. He also had aces at TPC Sawgrass and at Pebble Beach, among other courses.
Brown said his father always had a boat, called “Lucky Lady,” which now sits in his mother’s driveway. He said the new boat could replace that one.
Jerry Rice, who played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and Seattle Seahawks, was nearby and saw Brown’s ball go in the hole.
“He came over and hugged me. But it was — it’s not really a real hug. It was a ‘that should have been me’ hug,” Brown said smiling. “But, no, Jerry, we shared these types of things before. So that was great.”
Brown won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“In my office I have the Heisman. I have the Hall of Fame bust and I have the ball from TPC Sawgrass that I made. And my boy’s like, ‘Look, man, I know this football thing is special, but that golf ball, what you did, that may be the best things you’ve ever done,’” Brown said. “Doing it in this situation in a tournament with a prize, it’s second to none. You can’t throw out the Heisman and Hall of Fame, but these rank high, no doubt.”
Brown said he does not drink, but he would buy rounds of lemonade Friday night, as is customary when people make a hole-in-one.
