Three aces on No. 16 make Masters history
Ace. Ace. Ace.
For the first time in Masters history, three players made a hole-in-one on the same hole in the same round.
Davis Love III, Louis Oosthuizen and Shane Lowry made aces on the par-3, 170-yard 16th hole on Sunday.
There’d been 15 aces on No. 16, including two in the final round of the 2012 Masters. But never three.
Oosthuizen’s was the most unusual of the trio. His ball bounced off the ball of playing partner J.B Holmes and rolled into the hole.
Love said he could not recall how many holes-in-one he has in his career.
“Maybe four or five,” he said. “The last one was probably at Hilton Head.”
After Lowry’s ace, he pulled the ball out of the cup and faked a throw into the crowd before putting it in his pocket.
“That will definitely go in a frame somewhere in the house,” Lowry said.
HOLE-IN-ONE TRIVIA
▪ There has been only one ace on the par-3 No. 4 – by Jeff Sluman in 1992.
▪ Amateur Billy Joe Patton (1954) is one of five players to ace the par-3 No. 6.
▪ Curtis Strange (1988) is one of three who have aced the famous par-3 12th.
▪ Adam Scott and Bo Van Pelt had aces on the 16th hole in 2012. Ryan Moore and Nathan Green aced the hole in 2010.
▪ Another oddity occurred on the 16th hole in 2004 when players in consecutive groups – Padraig Harrington and Kirk Triplett – aced the hole.
▪ Players receive a crystal bowl for each ace.
RYDER CUP AHEAD
Love, who will be playing in the RBC Heritage this week – where he has won five times – is the captain for the American Ryder Cup team this year.
He said he’ll soon start asking potential team members to play practice rounds in order to be prepared to stop the Europeans’ streak.
“Order of play the first two days, whether we’ll play foursomes or four-balls first, things like that we need to decide,” Love said.
Love said it’s not too late for Bryson DeChambeau to make the team. He will turn pro at the RBC Heritage this week.
“He’s a strong player,” Love said. “He’s a lot like Jordan (Spieth) or Rickie (Fowler). He looks like he belongs already. He doesn’t have a bag with his name on it yet, but he fits in.”
NOT SO BIG THREE
Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day – golf’s new Big Three – didn’t have the best of Masters.
Spieth led after three rounds, but a quadruple–bogey 7 on No. 12 on Sunday killed his chances. McIlroy, who was paired with Spieth in the final group on Saturday, shot 1-over 289. A 77 on Saturday hurt. Day, who came in ranked No. 1, also finished at 1-over 289. He shot 73 on Sunday.
This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Three aces on No. 16 make Masters history."