Golf: Straka achieved his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour at the US Open

The 31-year-old only needed one stroke on the ninth hole instead of the course handicap of three. It was the first time in the current tournament that a player completed a hole on the first attempt. Nevertheless, Straka had to accept a drop in the ranking after a round of 72.

After the first round on the par-70 course on Thursday, the Viennese native was in 16th place, but on Friday evening he was only in 32nd place. However, some players had not yet finished their round, and the ÖGV star should definitely make the cut before the weekend. He experienced a lot of downside on the second day of the tournament. A triple bogey on the third hole and a subsequent bogey marked a complete false start.

After a birdie, there was another bogey. After the rare highlight on the ninth, he threw his arms around his American teammate JT Poston and gave caddie Duane Bock a good high five. “Yeah, seven iron, perfect number for me,” said Straka. Poston is one of his best friends on the tour. “He was there when I hit my ‘ace’ in Augusta in the par-three contest. The celebration was a little better this time,” said the graduate of the University of Georgia.

On April 10th of this year, he managed a hole-in-one in this supporting competition before the US Masters in Augusta, just as he had done on a practice day in Augusta the year before. On the ninth hole at the US Open in Pinehurst, only Peter Jacobsen (2005) and Zach Johnson (2014) had previously achieved this feat. After breaking free, Straka added a birdie and was suddenly back in the top 30. A bogey on the 15th fit the picture of an overall inconsistent performance.

But Straka kept alive the chance of improving his best placing at the US Open – in 2019 he was tied for 28th – having missed the cut in each of the past two years.