Rory McIlroy Electrifies Crowd at Travelers Championship With First PGA Tour Ace

Twenty-three wins in 17 years on Tour yet the Ulsterman had never had a hole in one in a tournament round until Thursday.

Rory McIlroy's wide smile returned Thursday at the Travelers Championship.

The last time the golf world (and sports world) saw the Ulsterman, it was Sunday at the 123rd U.S. Open when he came up one shot short to Wyndham Clark, the latest oh-so-close opportunity to end his nine-year major drought.

In that final round McIlroy couldn't buy a putt, with a strokes-gained putting mark of minus-2. Simply an average day on the greens would likely have left him holding the trophy.

On Thursday in the first round of the Travelers Championship, the putter was again giving McIlroy fits. At the par-4 4th hole and par-3 5th hole, he had consecutive three-putts to fall to 1 over for the tournament.

But at the par-3 8th hole, he got back to red figures with some crowd-thrilling magic: a hole in one from 214 yards with a 5-iron.

"Well that's one way to solve the putting woes—take the putter out of the equation!" a commentator said while McIlroy accepted congratulations on the tee.

Amazingly, it's McIlroy's first ace on the PGA Tour. He turned pro in 2007 and has 23 Tour wins, yet had never recorded a hole in one in 3,253 par-3s played.

That was enough to put a smile back on his face.