PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – For 50 years, TPC Sawgrass has challenged the game’s best players, but on Thursday, the Stadium Course delivered a rare first when Ryan Fox played the 16th and 17th holes in four shots.
Fox become the first player in the ShotLink era, which began in 1983, to go eagle, hole-in-one at Nos. 16 and 17, respectively.
“It’s such an iconic hole [No. 17] and it’s an intimidating shot. I don’t care who you are,” said Fox, who finished with a 69 and was tied for 18th following his round. “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.”
Fox, who bogeyed Nos. 14, 15 and 18, eagled the par-5 16th hole after hitting his 181-yard second shot to 2 feet. His ace at the island-green 17th hole was with a gap wedge that carried past the hole and spun back down the slope.
“You know you’ve got a little bit of a backstop there and I was pretty chuffed to look up and see it going down the flag. Obviously, a little bit of luck for it to come down the slope and go back in, but I’m certainly not complaining,” he said.
Fox’s ace was the 14th at No. 17 during The Players Championship.
List of holes-in-one (14) at TPC Sawgrass’ 17th
Brad Fabel, 1986, first round
Brian Claar, 1991, third round
Fred Couples, 1997, final round
Joey Sindelar, 1999, first round
Paul Azinger, 2000, third round
Miguel Angel Jimenez, 2002, first round
Willy Wilcox, 2016, second round
Sergio Garcia, 2017, first round
Ryan Moore, 2019, first round
Shane Lowry, 2022, third round
Hayden Buckley, 2023, first round
Aaron Rai, 2023, third round
Alex Smalley, 2023, final round
Ryan Fox, 2024, first round
