We have seen a few great examples of players trying to take the incredibly tough greens at Pinehurst No 2 out of play, but few came off like this Sepp Straka ace.
Teeing off at the Par 3 No 9 at Pinehurst No 2, Straka made perfect contact and the ball dropped onto the green, hopping a few times before rolling into the cup.
Straka got to soak in the moment with a huge grandstand full of fans cheering him on as he walked up to retrieve his ball from the hole.
And just like they say on commentary, ‘you never know when it will be your time.’
Get out there and get those hole-in-ones.
Straka’s effort is the third ace on No 9 at a US Open at Pinehurst No 2, as the Austrian joins Peter Jacobsen (2005, Round 3) and Zach Johnson (2014, Round 4) in holding the distinction.
Earlier in the second round, Straka’s second shot at the par-4 third hole struck the flagstick and bounded backward into a greenside bunker, and he would wind up carding a triple-bogey 7.
That was a bad break at an inopportune time, which saw him drop to 3-over for the tournament (he opened in even-par 70 Thursday).
In that context, his ace was certainly some well-deserved payback from the golfing gods; following the triple bogey, he played his next five holes in 1-over before recording the hole-in-one at the turn.
This turnout marks Straka’s fourth appearance in the US Open after he finished T28 in his 2019 debut but then missed the cut in each of the last two years.
At the time of Straka’s ace Friday morning, just before making the turn, the cut was projected at 3-over, with 80 players at 3-over or better.
The top 60 players and ties will make the 36-hole cut at Pinehurst No 2 and head into the weekend chasing Major glory.
