Delirium Erupts on Par-3 17th Hole at Sawgrass as Aaron Rai Makes Ace in Round 3
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Aaron Rai found himself amid the mayhem on Saturday afternoon. Good mayhem.
As his gap-wedge shot to the par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass landed beyond the green, took three hops and then spun back toward the hole, he raised his arm as the ball got closer, only to see it disappear into the cup for an ace.
Delirium ensued.
“Hit it great, looked great in the air and very pleased to see it go in,’’ said Rai, an Englishman who is playing in the Players Championship for the first time. “That was an incredible moment.’’
And it occurred in an incredible setting, with a raucous afternoon crowd to make it all the better.
“It was a little bit of a blur,’’ said Rai, who said it was his third hole-in-one in competition. “I saw it go in and then I looked to the left to almost see -- is it real? -- and I saw almost the crowd’s hands in the air. Then I looked to the right towards my caddie and he came running at me.
“So it happened very fast, but it feels very vivid now that I’m even talking about it and remembering some of the images. I couldn’t quite believe that happened, but very, very special. Very special. Something I’ll always remember.’’
Making it better? The ace helped Rai get into contention. He's tied for fourth place heading into Sunday, five shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
A two-time winner on the DP World Tour, Rai, 28, played his first season on the PGA Tour last year. He finished his round by birdieing the par-5 16th, making the ace at the 17th and following with a birdie at the 18th.
With five other birdies on his card along with two bogeys, Rai shot 7-under 65 to finish at 207, 9 under par, and tied for fourth place.
“The walk probably from 17 to 18 I thought was crucial, just in really trying to calm myself down and get very grounded, in the present,’’ Rai said. “Over the tee shot at 18, I felt pretty clear and pretty calm in my process, which was great. I hit a great tee shot down there. So it was almost as pleasing as the tee shot on 17 really to be able to kind of ground myself, control myself and hit a good tee shot down there.’’
His 312-yard tee shot set up a 133-yard approach that he knocked to 4 feet.
Rai, who recently moved to the area and made it his home base when not traveling last year, benefited from some experience playing the course – although it was nothing like playing the Stadium course in a tournament
“It’s an amazing opportunity,’’ he said.
Three weeks ago, Rai was a bystander at the Genesis Invitational. Not part of the pro-am, he got up early to watch tournament host Tiger Woods play, eventually meeting him for the first time.
Perhaps some karma rubbed off this weekend.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to be able to walk with him, to see him close and see how he plays certain shots around the greens, to see how he prepares, to see the ball flight that he uses,’’ said Rai, who is from Wolverhampton, England. “So that was my reasoning for watching him on that Wednesday, just to try and learn as much as possible because I haven’t had the opportunity to watch him in practice like that.
“So I was just grateful to be able to see him and also meet him, which was incredible.’’