Watch: Sepp Straka Makes First Ace of PGA Tour Career at 2024 U.S. Open

However, Straka's excitement perhaps also stemmed from the brutal break he suffered earlier in his second round at the par-4 3rd hole. Straka rang the flag stick with his approach shot, causing the ball to sprint backward off the green and into a penal sand bunker. The 31-year-old wound up making a triple bogey on the hole, so his ace at the 9th was more than well deserved. It was an apology from the golf gods.

Straka opened the tournament — his fourth career appearance at the U.S. Open — with an impressive even-par 70 in the first round. He was 3-over through eight holes on Friday before his hole-in-one, jumping him back inside the projected cut line. Straka has missed the cut in his last two U.S. Open starts, with his career-best finish being T28 at Pebble Beach in 2019.

Straka's ace is the third on No. 9 at a U.S. Open hosted by Pinehurst No. 2, joining Peter Jacobsen (Round 3, 2005) and Zach Johnson (Round 4, 2014).