What a great start to the morning for Hayden Buckley and anyone who bet on at least one ace at hole No. 17 during the 2023 Players Championship.
Just around 9 a.m. ET, Buckley rolled up to the tee box at the infamous island green at hit a gorgeous shot that landed a bit behind the flag stick, caught the slope and rolled right back into the cup for the first (and maybe only?) ace of the weekend.
Naturally, Buckley lost his dang mind in celebration and rightfully so.
🚨 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
POV: You just made the first ace of the 2023 @THEPLAYERSChamp 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iMkSb05pKk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2023
Epic. pic.twitter.com/q2hAZT6icV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2023
The odds of any player making a hole-in-one on No. 17 this week were +250 (and boosted to +375 at FanDuel), but don’t think for a moment that Buckley’s accomplishment is something any average golfer could accomplish at this course.
TPC Sawgrass released a video tracking 95 amateurs attempting to take on the island green and only three even came away with birdies while the rest put 102 balls in the water.
It’s also the second week in a row we’ve seen an ace on Tour after Viktor Hovland pulled one off at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The moral of the story is if you like free drinks, you don’t want to miss the PGA’s Florida swing.