The chances of hitting a hole-in-one are pretty slim, even for the best golfers in the world. Witnessing one in person is also a rarity for even the most avid golf fans, but The Masters saw some history on Sunday, as not one, not two, but THREE hole-in-one shots were made on the 16th hole.
The first remarkable shot came off the club of Shane Lowry…
Watch @shanelowrygolf make the sixteenth hole-in-one at No. 16 in #themasters history. https://t.co/YClo2d7xmW
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016
As you can see, that was the 16th hole-in-one in the history of The Masters, which has been played since 1934. The last time a hole-in-one had been made was in 2013, by Jamie Donaldson. Two golfers shot a hole-in-one the previous year with Bo Van Pelt and Adam Scott each sinking their first shot on — you guessed it — the 16th hole. In 2010 two more shots were made on the 16th hole, with Nathan Green and Ryan Moore each pulling off the feat.
In fact, the 16th hole has been generous to golfers as it has been the hole seeing 18 of the 27 hole-in-one shots in Masters history. The 17th came shortly after Lowry’s shot when Davis Love III proved once again that lightning can strike twice on the 16th.
Watch @Love3d make the seventeenth hole-in-one on No. 16 in #themasters history. https://t.co/TJFLIW6UQT
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016
And we were not done just yet. After it seemed things had calmed down for the day, Louis Oosthuizen got in on the fun, and he did so in perhaps the most impressive and dramatic fashion…
[Author’s Note: If I may give you a little behind-the-scenes information, I just finished writing up a post about the first two aces and let my editor know it was ready for review, thinking we were done with this story. Not 30 seconds after providing that update, Oosthuizen sunk his shot to force me to update the story before it had even been posted!]
With two shots going in the hole on the first swing from the tee, the 16th hole saw its average stroke total take a little drop.
This is the second time The Masters has had three aces in the same tournament, but it is the first time three have been made on the same hole. The 2004 Masters saw Chris DiMarco sink one on the sixth hole and Padraig Harrington and Kirk Triplett each sink one on the 16th hole.
The 16th hole is now playing to a stroke average of 1.3 today.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGolf) April 10, 2016
So if you are an active golfer and you have never hit a hole-in-one, get yourself to the 16th hole at Augusta. The odds seem pretty good there.
