Graeme McDowell gives team 'shot in the arm' with brilliant ace
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Graeme McDowell's wild ace on No. 17 at the 2021 Zurich Classic
Graeme McDowell celebrated in different stages at the par-3 17th hole at TPC Louisiana on Friday. It’s a fairly brutal hole, all 216 yards of it, and water guards its entire left side. A par was the score he was chasing in the second round of the Zurich Classic. So when McDowell saw that the beautiful 4-iron he struck safely on land, pitching at the front of the green, that was cause for joy in itself. He didn’t bother to even watch the rest once it bounced.
And then his ball released, and rolled, and rolled some more … 40 feet or so … right into the jar for McDowell’s very first ace in a PGA TOUR event. McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, figures he has “around 14” or so holes-in-one around the world, as many as five as a pro on other tours, but he had never had one on the PGA TOUR. When the ball disappeared, McDowell’s partner, Matt Wallace, was more thrilled than McDowell, giving him a double-armed jolt to the shoulders as everybody else on the tee swarmed him.
“It’s a sweet one, obviously,” said McDowell, 41, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR. “It means I can share the bar bill with Matty, as well, which is great. I think we sent a few beers over to the caddie tent, and we sent a few beers over to the media center, as well, just in case you guys are thirsty.”
McDowell’s ace, which came on the eighth hole of the round, provided a nice spark for the McDowell-Wallace tandem, which moved from the cutline into the fringes of contention. A second-round 70 left them at 8-under 136, just five shots out of the lead.
Because the hole-in-one arrived at the PGA TOUR’s two-man team event it was not deemed as being “official” by the PGA TOUR. As far as McDowell and his partner were concerned, you can keep the asterisk.
“Nah, that counts,” Wallace said.
Added McDowell, “Official? I don’t care if it’s official, unofficial … I’m pretty sure it says ‘1’ on the scorecard.”
With a big weekend ahead, his own celebration would have to wait. Maybe a little red wine with dinner, McDowell said.
“It was a nice little shot in the arm for us, and we birdied the next, and we put ourselves in a nice little slot going into the weekend,” McDowell said. “… We may have a glass of wine, but we’ll save the celebrations, hopefully, for Sunday night.”
Rest easy. If McDowell and Wallace were to win, it would be counted as official. And they’ll both know the shot that got them going.