Early look at Team Europe? Viktor Hovland shoots a practice round ace

September 28, 2023
Early look at Team Europe? Viktor Hovland shoots a practice round ace

  • Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterSep 28, 2023, 07:30 AM ET

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      • Joined ESPN in 2011
      • Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
      • Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Viktor Hovland showed the rest of his Ryder Cup team what’s possible on the short par 4 fifth hole at Marco Simone with a stunning hole-in-one in practice on Thursday.

It was Europe’s final practice before the Ryder Cup starts on Friday. The fifth hole at Marco Simone is 302 yards, complete with a greenside pond on the left side of the fairway.

His teammates and fellow practice partners Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg had successfully driven the green, but it was Hovland who produced the goods with a pinpoint three-wood off the deck.

Word reached his teammates on the sixth hole, with Rory McIlroy asking captain Luke Donald who’d produced the ace: “It was Viktor, but with his second ball.”

There have been six holes-in-one in tournament history — Peter Butler (1973), Nick Faldo (1993), Constantino Rocca (1995), Howard Clark (1995), Paul Casey (2006), Scott Verplank (2006). And there has only been one ace on a par-4 in PGA Tour history from Andrew Magee at the 2001 Phoenix Open.

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Last updated on September 28, 2023