GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy -- Viktor Hovland showed the rest of his Ryder Cup team what's possible on the short par 4 fifth hole at Marco Simone with a stunning hole-in-one in practice on Thursday.
It was Europe's final practice before the Ryder Cup starts on Friday. The fifth hole at Marco Simone is 302 yards, complete with a greenside pond on the left side of the fairway.
🚨 VIKTOR HOVLAND MAKES A HOLE-IN-ONE ON A PAR 4! #TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/OnsEG19UC6
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 28, 2023
His teammates and fellow practice partners Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg had successfully driven the green, but it was Hovland who produced the goods with a pinpoint three-wood off the deck.
Word reached his teammates on the sixth hole, with Rory McIlroy asking captain Luke Donald who'd produced the ace: "It was Viktor, but with his second ball."
There have been six holes-in-one in tournament history -- Peter Butler (1973), Nick Faldo (1993), Constantino Rocca (1995), Howard Clark (1995), Paul Casey (2006), Scott Verplank (2006). And there has only been one ace on a par-4 in PGA Tour history from Andrew Magee at the 2001 Phoenix Open.