PGA golfer Rory McIlroy Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Rory McIlroy records first PGA Tour ace

By Max Rego | Last updated 6/23/23

Rory McIlroy has accomplished a great deal on the PGA Tour. Four major championships. 23 tour victories. Three player of the year awards.

But until Thursday, one thing was missing from his resumé. An ace in competition. That changed with one swing.

With a 5-iron on the par-three eighth hole at TPC River Highlands — during the first round of the Travelers Championship — the Northern Irishman hit a towering tee shot that landed a few paces short of the hole, rolled towards the cup and dropped for a hole-in-one.

ACE FOR RORY!@McIlroyRory holes it from 214 yards @TravelersChamp pic.twitter.com/bKUfts2RvU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2023

The Connecticut crowd – often one of the most boisterous on tour on a yearly basis – went berserk and the 34-year-old raised both arms in celebration before high-fiving playing partners Tom Kim and Viktor Hovland (along with their caddies), as well as his caddie and close friend Harry Diamond.

The ace moved McIlroy to 1-under for the tournament, flipping the switch after a sluggish first seven holes. He ended up carding a 2-under 68, with five birdies, five bogeys and the aforementioned hole-out.

"That was the best shot of the day that I hit,” McIlroy said, per Golf Channel. “Obviously, a bonus for it to go in the hole, but it was really cool. I played pretty averagely up until that point. Felt like that hole-in-one got me going a little bit."

Now, it was not the first hole-in-one of McIlroy’s life. He told Kevin Van Valkenburg of No Laying Up during a U.S. Open practice round last week that his first came at the age of eight, while he was playing by himself at Holywood Golf Club back home in Northern Ireland.

That might explain why McIlroy, instead of keeping the ball as a memento Thursday, elected to toss it into the crowd.

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