The second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday featured some fireworks at the 14th hole provided by one-time PGA Tour winner Will Zalatoris that you have to see to believe.
An interesting twist to the Genesis Invitational is a giveaway that the host of the tournament is doing each day. Each day, the first player to produce a hole-in-one on either the Par 3 14th hole or the Par 3 16th hole will win themselves a brand new Genesis GV80 car, along with winning their caddie an electric Genesis Electrified GV70.
There were no hole-in-ones during the first round of the tournament on Thursday, but Zalatoris got the crowd going with a spectacular shot on the 14th hole that found the bottom of the hole.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨
@WillZalatoris cards a 1️⃣ on Riviera's 184-yard par 3 14th hole @TheGenesisInv!(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/SEZUWMEBaC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 16, 2024
The first thing Zalatoris did after seeing the shot go down was hug his caddie Joel Stock, who will also obviously benefit from his player’s shot at Riviera Country Club with a brand new car.
This is just the second ever hole-in-one from Zalatoris on the PGA Tour, his last coming at the 2020 U.S. Open.
Will Zalatoris makes a hole-in-one at the par-3 14th (184 yards), his second career ace on the PGA TOUR and first since the 2020 U.S. Open.
Zalatoris receives a 2024 Genesis GV80 and his caddie, Joel Stock, receives a 2024 Genesis Electrified GV70 for the hole-in-one.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 16, 2024
Fans took to social media to offer their reaction to the impressive feat from Zalatoris.
Will Zalatoris won himself and his caddie a new car after this hole-in-one at the Genesis Invitational! 👏@ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/W1mKYC6sZ4
— ESPN (@espn) February 16, 2024
WIll Zalatoris second career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.
(This one nets Genesis cars for he and his caddie) pic.twitter.com/S59sMAyTnI
— Underdog Golf (@Underdog__Golf) February 16, 2024
Will Zalatoris with a HOLE IN ONE on the 14th @ForePlayPod
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 16, 2024
HOLE IN 1 BETTORS STAND UP‼️
Will Zalatoris just cashed some tickets at the Genesis Invitational 🤑 pic.twitter.com/uIxs9o9Eos
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) February 16, 2024
Are you kidding me🤯@WillZalatoris
— Wake Forest Men's Golf (@WakeMGolf) February 16, 2024
The shot completely boosted what was otherwise a below-average round for Zalatoris, finishing the round at one-under par for a tie for eighth place in the tournament overall thus far at -6.
He only sits three shots outside of the lead at this point in Round 2. So we will surely see him in contention near the end of this tournament if he can piece together a good final two rounds.