PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Drinks are on Hayden Buckley on Thursday.
The 27-year-old pro aced the iconic par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass and then celebrated with gusto.
“I had a little feeling something like that might happen this week,” said Buckley, who made his second hole-in-one on the PGA Tour and fifth of his life. “I don’t know, I’ve been hitting it well, but it’s always nice to see it happen on that hole, too.”
Starting on the back nine and playing in just the second group of the day to step to the water-guarded par 3 in the opening round of the 2023 Players Championship, Buckley chose a pitching wedge with just 125 yards to the front-hole location. His shot landed just right of the hole, bounced once and then spun back into the cup.
“I’m so sorry for my squeak. Holy cow,” said Christina Kim on PGA Tour Live. “Oh, I want to see that again.”
Don’t we all.
🚨 BUCKETS FOR BUCKLEY! 🚨 @HBuckley13 makes a hole-in-one at the 17th hole in the second group of the day! pic.twitter.com/Cd7BULOB2W
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2023
Buckley threw his hat in the air, pumped his fists, screamed, “C’mon!” and tossed his club as he slapped hands with pros Adam Long and Taylor Montgomery.
It was a much more animated reaction compared to when Buckley made an ace in Las Vegas last year as a rookie.
“It was early in the morning, nobody was really out there,” he said. “I guess I had to have a little bit more of a reaction this time. I had friends and my wife in the crowd, so I had to entertain them a little bit.”
Buckley was cruising along at 5 under through his first 11 holes when the wheels came off and he signed for 1-over 73. But an ace is an ace and he said he’d celebrated later.
“I need a lot of water, but maybe like a Maker’s and Sprite I think is what I’ll have,” he said. “I guess I’m buying a lot of people drinks, too, so that’s probably the only downside. Drinks on me, I guess.”
One year after Shane Lowry aced the hole in the third round, Buckley became the 10th player to do so since 1991:
2023: Hayden Buckley, 1st round
2022: Shane Lowry, 3rd round
2019: Ryan Moore, 1st round
2017: Sergio Garcia, 1st round
2016: Willy Wilcox, 2nd round
2002: Miguel Angel Jimenez, 1st round
2000: Paul Azinger, 3rd round
1999: Joey Sindelar, 1st round
1997: Fred Couples, final round
1991: Brian Claar, 3rd round
Buckley, a former walk-on at Missouri, finished second at the Sony Open at Hawaii, his best career finish on the PGA Tour, but entered the Players having missed his last three cuts.
