Rory McIlroy celebrated a hole-in-one on his way to a score of 66 in the opening round at California’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman found the cup with a sand wedge on the par-three 15th hole at Spyglass Hill Golf Course and will now head into Friday’s second round two shots behind leader Russell Henley.
The hole-in-one marked the second career ace for McIlroy, who made his first during the 2023 Travelers Championship.
“It’s such an elevated tee that the ball’s in the air and you know it’s on line but you don’t know whether to say, ‘Go!’ or ‘Sit!’ or ‘Spin,’ or ‘Release’,” McIlroy said. “You’re looking at it and you’re watching where it might land on the green and the thing just disappears. It was a good swing, a good wedge shot and it was obviously a nice little moment.”
McIlroy’s was not the day’s only hole-in-one. Irishman Shane Lowry landed one of his own on the famous par-three seventh at Pebble Beach, with the ball landing short of the pin and rolling in. Lowry used social media site X to call it the “shot of my dreams”.
Henley made birdie on his final two holes to end the day at the top of the leaderboard, with his eight-under 64 at Spyglass Hill putting him one ahead of six others including England’s Justin Rose.
The tournament also marked the return of Scottie Scheffler, who missed a month of the Tour after a freak kitchen accident over Christmas. The American recovered from an early bogey for a round of 67 and a share of 15th place.