Fox’s ace at No. 17 at Players is 8th in the last 7 years
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — If you took the long odds of a hole-in-one at the iconic 17th hole at The Players Championship, Ryan Fox made you some money during Thursday’s opening round.
Fox, the 37-year-old New Zealander, registered the 14th ace on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass, sticking his tee shot about 12 feet beyond the pin on the island green and watching it roll back into the hole.
The Players is celebrating its 50th anniversary and 42nd year at TPC Sawgrass.
“It’s such an iconic hole, and it’s an intimidating shot,” said Fox, who hit a gap wedge. “I don’t care who you are. You get up there, most of the crowd probably either wants you to make a 1 or hit it in the water, so I’m glad to be on the right side of it in that respect.”
The ace came after Fox eagled the par-5 16th hole, making him the first golfer to record back-to-back eagles in The Players Championship’s 42 years on the Stadium Course.
Fox called it “a little bit of luck” for the ball to come back down the slope.
“When it landed and came back, I was like, this has got a chance,” he said. “I mean, we had enough good shots that a few have a chance every now and again, but they don’t go in very often. So it was nice to see one properly go in.”
Fox immediately raised his arms and started high-fiving everyone in his group as the spectators reacted. The hole played 124 yards for the first round of the tournament.
Nine groups had played the hole before Fox, Kevin Streelman and C.T. Pan stepped onto the tee box. They had trying to protect ourselves, protect the field, as well. I wouldn’t say it was needless. I think he was just trying to make sure that what happened was the right thing.”
McIlroy was then asked if he believes Spieth and Hovland are comfortable with the decisions made, especially since both avoided talking about it after the round.
“I think so, yeah,” he said. “I’m comfortable. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Irons heating up for McIlroy
McIlroy has had his adventures with water balls on the Florida Swing. His approach at No. 16 at the Cognizant Classic trickled into the water. He removed his right shoe and sock and attempted to hit combined for five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. No. 17 played as the sixth-hardest hole on the course in 2023, .130 strokes over par.
Fox qualified for The Players Championship by being No. 44 on the World Golf Ranking as of the Cognizant Classic.
Last year’s Players marked the first time multiple holes-in-one were recorded on No. 17; Hayden Buckley in the first round, Aaron Rai in the third round and Alex Smalley on Sunday. There were none from 2003-15. Fox’s ace is the eighth on No. 17 since 2016 after none was recorded in the previous 13 years.
Fox’s is the seventh ace on No. 17 in the opening round.
The odds for a hole-in-one at No. 17 were at +250 entering the tournament. Betting against an ace was the heavy favorite at -360.
it out of the water, and it carried about 3 feet and rolled back into the water.
Last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy duck-hooked his second shot into the water on the par-5 6th hole.
Rory tied for 21st in those two events. His start at The Players suggests a much better outcome.
That double bogey on No. 6 at Bay Hill was part of a 76, a round that had McIlroy on high alert entering this week.
Because of it, Rory went back to work Monday.
“Say I had a decent day on Sunday at Bay Hill and shot 70, for sure I would have taken Monday off here,” he said. “But because of not shooting a decent score, I grinded on the range and figured something out and put the time in, and it’s sort of already reaping benefits, so that’s nice.”
That “something” was in his irons, which McIlroy admitted Wednesday were by far his weakness this year.
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods at the minute,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I figured out my putting last week and I putted well the last three days at Bay Hill.
“A little bit of work to do with the irons and trying to get those straightened out.”
Thursday suggests he did just that. McIlroy birdied all four par-5s, three of those on the green in 2. He started the day with three birdies, sticking his approach shots on the 10th and 12th holes within 5 feet.
On the famous 17th island green, McIlroy’s tee shot rolled to within 6 feet.
“Just needed to clean up the technique a little bit, needed to clean up some things,” McIlroy said. “Honestly, just needed to put the time in.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@gannett.com