Buckley carded an early ace, catapulting himself into a share of the lead at the start of Round 1
Not even a quarter of the way into the first round of the 2023 Players Championship, and a player has already made a hole-in-one on the famed par-3 17th. Hayden Buckley was the man up to the challenge at TPC Sawgrass early Thursday.
Effectively using the slope behind the front pin location on the island green, Buckley’s tee shot from 125 yards zipped back from the top of the ridge and into the bottom of the cup. His ace is the 40th in the event’s history and just the 11th to come on the famed island hole.
Buckley joins Shane Lowry, Ryan Moore, Sergio Garcia and Willy Wilcox as golfers who made holes-in-one at the island green over the last seven years. For Buckley, it marks the second ace of his PGA Tour career and second in the last three years after draining one in the first round of the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open.
From a broader perspective, his ace catapulted him into contention in the early stages of the PGA Tour’s flagship event. Arriving at the 17th sitting 1 under for the day, Buckley reached 3 under with his ace and made the turn with a share of the lead at 4 under after scoring birdie on 18 (he started on the back nine).
With the front pin location on the 17th hole, don’t be surprised if others join Buckley with aces on Thursday. Players have peppered the flag stick early and often, so another hole-in-one may be in the cards.
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