As if the euphoria of making a one-in-a-lifetime hole-in-one at one of the most prestigious events and courses on the PGA Tour calendar isn’t enough of a reward, Will Zalatoris also earned a pair of luxury cars for his ace at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera on Friday.
On the 184-yard par-3 14th, Zalatoris whipped the ball 136 miles per hour off the tee and onto the front left side of the green, where it proceeded to calmly roll into the cup. Zalatoris — who recently recovered from serious back surgery — threw himself into the arms of his caddie, Joel Stock.
Their pronounced celebration occurred before Zalatoris was informed that a hole-in-one at the Genesis yields an event-specific reward: a Genesis GV80 SUV for the player — which typically costs nearly $60,000 — and an Electrified GV70, which runs closer to $70,000. Sheesh.
It was the second ace of Zalatoris’ career and first since No. 7 at Winged Foot in the opening round of the U.S. Open in 2020. More importantly, it boosted him up the leaderboard. Zalatoris followed up a 5-under 66 on Thursday with a one-under 70. He was T8 when he turned in his scorecard.
Zalatoris has been one of the feel-good stories of the PGA Tour season. The former rookie of the year has steadily improved with each start since returning from back surgery in December. He last won on Tour at the 2022 St. Jude Championship.
The wheels are nice, but it would pale in comparison to a win at Riviera.
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