If you stayed up late Thursday (or got up early on Friday) to watch the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, you saw Phil Mickelson clang his tee shot off the flagstick with a driver on the par-4 14th hole, almost making an ace.
The group of Vaughn Taylor, Danny Lee and Jeongwoo Ham stepped aside so Mickelson and his group could hit up and they were almost witness to one of the rarities in the sport: a hole in one on a par 4.
In the last two seasons, Dustin Johnson, Robert Garrigus, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Tyler Duncan and now Mickelson have all come oh-so-close to pulling it off.
Garrigus, in particular, had his shot on the 17th at TPC Scottsdale during the Waste Management Phoenix Open hit the flagstick dead on and then stop, just inches from the hole.
But it was on the very hole that the first-ever ace on a par 4 in PGA Tour history was recorded. It was back in 2001 when Andrew Magee turned the trick on the 332-yard hole.
Things being what they were in 2001 with video and whatnot there is no recorded visual evidence of the ace. And that’s too bad.
But, here is a PGA Tour video of near-aces from the last two seasons.
