19th Hole

17 million to 1 odds: 2 golfers make back-to-back holes-in-one

Published

6 years ago

Apr 30, 2018

Imagine watching one member of your foursome tee up his ball at a 123-yard par 3. After his usual pre-shot activities, he strikes his approach. It flies for the pin like a heat-seeking missile, lands softly, and disappears into the cup. Your whole group erupts in celebration; after the dust of enthusiasm settles, it’s your turn to hit.

Such was the situation for 33-year-old Brian Halpern at the seventh hole of Westwood Country Club in St. Louis, Sunday.

After watching his buddie, Howie Sher, ace the hole, Halpern teed his ball up and struck his approach, and the projectile did…the exact same thing.

Imagine that scene: It had to be a mix of jubilation and disbelief–“Is there a glitch in the Matrix? Are we all going to ace this hole?”

“Watching Howie’s go in was the most-exhilarating thing I’d experienced on a golf course,” said Halpern. “I’d never seen one go in before. Watching it was amazing.”

To be sure. But what was it like trying to follow up his friend’s performance?

“To be honest I was just trying to make sure I hit contact because I had so much adrenaline going from watching Howie. When I hit the ball I chunked it a little bit but had a good line. It was going a little left of the pin and landed on the left fringe, pin high. After it landed, it took a hard bounce up the hill and then ran down the hill in a beeline for the hole – just like Howie.”

Unreal. Halpern described the experience as “out-of-body,” telling Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

“What happened is not believable.”

Indeed. According to the National Hole-In-One Registry sets odds of two players in the same foursome making aces as 17 million to 1. To put that in perspective, the odds of getting struck by lightning are one in 960,000.

Thus, it’s 17 times more likely you’ll get struck by lightning than it is that you’ll experience the “lightning strikes twice” phenomenon of two aces in one group.

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19th Hole

Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters

Published

5 hours ago

Apr 14, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with Hugo Costa of Golf Channel Latin America, Jon Rahm indicated that he wasn’t too well recieved by some PGA Tour players at The Masters.

“Some did. I expected it. And then, there was someone else who I expected to be a little tougher… and one of them hugged me. I think that, among all the relationships I have, it has been everything what I expected. My friends are still my friends. And then someone, with whom I was very cordial and had a positive relationship (in quotes), has not even looked at me”.

“If someone changes their opinion of me, it is more their problem than mine. I am not worried”.

According to Costa, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa were the two who were hostile towards Rahm

“Important players with whom Jon Rahm had a good relationship, such as Patrick Cantlay or Max Homa, could have had gestures of contempt towards the Spaniard in this Masters.”

Rahm will tee it up next at LIV Adelaide in a few weeks.

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19th Hole

Report: Greg Norman spotted following a surprise grouping on Thursday at the Masters

Published

3 days ago

Apr 12, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Greg Norman is at this week’s Masters tournament but found himself in a situation where he had to buy himself a ticket to enter the grounds.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Norman explained why he was at Augusta National:

“I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them. So I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’ ”

So who was Norman following during the opening round of this year’s Masters? Well the answer may surprise you.

Per Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, Norman was spotted following the LIV-less grouping of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

Spotted in the gallery at Augusta: Greg Norman following Rory McIlroy ? (and Scottie and Xander)

— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) April 11, 2024

We’ll find out a little later today whether Norman will make his third appearance in as many days at this year’s opening major.

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19th Hole

Collin Morikawa makes surprising late putter switch at Masters

Published

4 days ago

Apr 11, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Collin Morikawa has had plenty of success with a blade in his hands over the course of his young career, but after a lean spell on the greens lately, it appears that the 27-year-old is ready to try something new.

Related: Brooks Koepka and Sergio Garcia make significant equipment changes as 2024 Masters looms

The California-native began the year with his TaylorMade TP Soto before switching to a Logan Olson proto last month. Now at this week’s Masters, Morikawa has been spotted with a Spider Tour X, the same flatstick that Scottie Scheffler will be using at Augusta.

The move would represent a big change, but it has been a very frustrating year on the greens for Morikawa, who will hope the TaylorMade mallet can offer him a similar upturn in fortune to that of Scheffler. In 2024, Morikawa ranks 164th for Strokes Gained: Putting, and 157th for Total Putting.

We’ll keep an eye whether Morikawa puts the mallet into action on day one of the Masters.