Ryan Fox etched his name into the history books as he became just the 14th player to record a hole-in-one at the iconic par-three 17th at the Players Championship.
Starting on the back nine in the first round on Thursday, the New Zealander got off to the perfect start with a birdie on his second hole at the par-five 11th.
Consecutive bogeys at 14 and 15 swiftly followed, however, but the World No. 44 responded magnificently, finding an eagle-three at the par-five 16th before seeing his tee shot spin back into the hole for an ace on the par-three 17th.
The feat sees Fox become the first player ever to record back-to-back eagles on 16 and 17, with his hole-in-one on the 17th the first of this year's tournament. Take a look:
Ryan Fox Hole-In-One At Players Championship:
HOLE-IN-ONE FOR @RYANFOXGOLFER! He lights up the Island Green @THEPLAYERS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4839JZqb6zMarch 14, 2024
Fox's hole-in-one sees him become just the 14th player to hole out for an ace on the island green. Brad Fadel made the first in 1986, with last year's tournament seeing a record three hole-in-ones after Hayden Buckley, Aaron Rai and Alex Smalley all holed out from the tee box.
"I mean, it's such an iconic hole, and it's an intimidating shot. I don't care who you are. You get up there, most of the crowd probably either wants you to make a 1 or hit it in the water, so I'm glad to be on the right side of it in that respect," he said.
"When we got to the tee, it was kind of a good number for me. It was a nice gap wedge and you know you've got a little bit of a backstop there, and I was pretty chuffed to look up and see it going down the flag, and obviously a little bit of luck for it to come down the slope and go back in, but I'm certainly not complaining.
"When it landed and came back, I was like, this has got a chance. I mean, we had enough good shots that a few have a chance every now and again, but they don't go in very often, so it was nice to see one properly go in, and as I said, it's such an iconic hole, and to have that many people there to witness it is pretty cool."
The Island Green @THEPLAYERS isn't a bad place to record your first hole-in-one on TOUR 😁 pic.twitter.com/xYpGaTiyxVMarch 14, 2024
Fox made his debut appearance at the Players Championship last year, recording an impressive T27 finish in his maiden start. Returning to TPC Sawgrass a year later, the 37-year-old had spoken earlier in the week about the perils of the 17th hole.
"The 17th doesn't seem like that hard of a shot on a Monday and Tuesday, but (during the tournament) you've got a few thousand people there pretty much waiting for a car accident," he said in an interview with New Zealand outlet, RNZ.
"It's quite intimidating and you can never let your guard down and you can make two, or five, or even worse than that there very quickly."
Fox has made four PGA Tour starts so far this year, with his best finish a T35 at the Cognizant Classic.
