Well, here’s a predicament that I wish I could experience.
During the second round of the World Wide Technologies Championship, Beau Hossler made an ace on the par-3 11th hole. Except he did not see it go in.
When he arrived at the tee, he stood at 1-under for the championship, hovering around the cut line. Hossler knew he had to be aggressive, so he took dead aim at the flag with his 8-iron. He then hit a towering high draw that painted the stick, and it landed about five feet short of the cup. His ball then took a couple of bounces and descended into the bottom of the hole for an ace. It marks the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career.
But Hossler—and his group, for that matter—had no idea that it went in.
Somebody within the group even asked, “Did it go in?” Someone else then responded, “I don’t think so.”
Whoever said that was wrong, even though their vantage point may have been poor. Hossler did indeed make an ace, improving his overall score to 3-under for the time being and onto the right side of the cut line. He went on to shoot a 9-under 69—a stark contrast from Thursday’s opening round, when he carded a 4-over 76. Hossler has also jumped 65 places on the leaderboard to 5-under overall.
Even though he did not see his hole-in-one, it paid massive dividends for his positioning on the leaderboard. And anybody would take that, including yours truly, who is still searching for his first one.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.