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25D AGO

Rory McIlroy makes fly-in ace at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

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    Written by Staff

    Rory McIlroy aced the par-3 15th hole at Spyglass Hill in the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his ball flying directly into the cup.

    McIlroy broke into a wide grin and high-fived his caddie and playing partners, among them his Ryder Cup teammate Ludvig Åberg. The hole-in-one vaulted McIlroy from 1-under to 3-under; he went on to shoot 6-under 66, two back of first-round leader Russell Henley at the season's second Signature Event.

    It was McIlroy's second career ace. He made his first one in Round 1 of the 2023 Travelers Championship, on TPC River Highlands' eighth hole.

    “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 or whatever. It's sort of weird, you're looking at it and you're sort of watching where it might land on the green and the thing just disappears,” McIlroy said afterward. “Honestly, it was lucky, I don't see many balls nowadays go straight in the hole and stay in the hole. Pretty fortunate because it could have come out and went back in the water or do anything. It was a good swing, good wedge shot.”

    A 26-time PGA TOUR winner and the only three-time winner of the FedExCup, McIlroy, 35, is making his first TOUR start after a 2024 season that saw him capture the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Shane Lowry) and the Truist Championship. Although it was a bittersweet season marked by his heartache at the U.S. Open, McIlroy won the DP World Tour Championship to capture his sixth Race to Dubai title in November.

    Lowry followed his teammate with an ace of his own Thursday, carding a hole-in-one at Pebble Beach Golf Links' iconic par-3 seventh en route to an opening 66.

    This is the sixth hole-in-one on Spyglass Hill's 119-yard, par-3 15th hole; the most recent one was carded by Justin Rose in 2023 — who went on to eventually win the event. McIlroy will hope to do the same.