Rory McIlroy is one of the most decorated male golfers in modern history, with four Major championships and multiple Race To Dubai and FedEx Cup victories - among countless other professional trophies and prestigious awards.
The Northern Irishman began his professional career in 2007 and quickly made a name for himself via his extraordinary striking power and ability to win from an early age.
However, his capacity to card a hole-in-one in competitive events is something which has been strangely lacking throughout McIlroy's incredible pro career.
As an amateur or in pro-am tournaments pre-2014, the man from Holywood, Northern Ireland had apparently been quite prolific in holing out from his tee shot.
McIlroy revealed in 2015 he had made 10 aces to that point in his life, with the most recent coming during a pro-am in 2013 and his first occurring as a nine-year-old - coincidentally, with a 9-iron - on a 106-yard hole at his home course in County Down.
But it wasn't until several months after McIlroy had collected the fourth Major of his career - which arrived at the 2014 PGA Championship - that his very first professional ace arrived.
At the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, McIlroy settled over his golf ball at the 177-yard 15th hole with a 9-iron in hand and sent it rocketing towards the green. His ball then took one bounce forward and to the right before quickly disappearing from view.
Quick to congratulate him was playing partner, Rickie Fowler, with the broadcast team watching on noting it was the third ace of the week at that particular DP World Tour event.
It took McIlroy around seven-and-a-half years from turning pro before the 2007 British Masters to scoring his first hole-in-one in Abu Dhabi, and it was - quite remarkably - around the same amount of time before he managed to do it again.
Just the second professional ace of McIlroy's career - and, to date, his most recent - was recorded in the opening round of the 2022 Travelers Championship.
Stood at one-over on the 218-yard par-3 eighth at TPC River Highlands, McIlroy whipped a beautiful baby draw in towards the hole, watching on as it bounced some 15 feet from the flag before rolling at a perfect speed into the bottom of the cup.
Tom Kim and Viktor Hovland celebrated alongside McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, and a delighted McIlroy twirled his index finger in the air to acknowledge the crowd.
While most amateurs would cherish that ball more than most other things in their life, McIlroy admitted it now belongs to someone else.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, the Northern Irishman said: “I threw it away to someone. I’m not sentimental, I don’t care. I’d rather have trophies than golf balls.”
At the time of writing, McIlroy certainly has a lot more titles than professional career aces, at least.
How Many Aces Does Rory McIlroy Have As A Professional?
Remarkably, Rory McIlroy has only managed to record a hole-in-one twice during competitive rounds in his pro career.
The first was at the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the DP World Tour while the second arrived at the 2022 Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour.
As an amateur or in rounds outside of pro events, McIlroy has made at least 10 more aces.
