Pro makes ACE on PAR-4 during PGA Tour's John Deere Classic qualifier
An 18-year-old made a splash at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic qualifier this week.
Aldrich Potgieter may have narrowly missed out on qualifying for this week's PGA Tour event, but he walked away with a pretty sweet consolation.
The 18-year-old turned professional following the US Open a few weeks ago, where he finished 64th in California.
It came after a successful amateur career, which included winning the 2022 British Amateur Championship.
The South African made his professional debut last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he missed the cut after shooting back-to-back rounds of 73.
This week, he made the trip to Milan, Illinois, to take part in the Monday Qualifier for the John Deere Classic.
Potgieter was 3-under par on his round through seven holes when he arrived at the 345-yard par-4 17th at Pinnacle Country Club on Monday.
Looking to go low on the hole, Potgieter did much, much more.
A dogleg-right, Potgieter couldn't see if his ball landed on the green from the tee box, but as he walked down the fairway he discovered what had really happened: it had gone in the cup for a hole-in-one on a par-4!
Hole-in-one on a 345-yard par 4!
18-year-old Aldrich Potgieter did the unthinkable at the @JDClassic Monday Qualifier. pic.twitter.com/WLZdxB4mW2— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 3, 2023
"That was really exciting, and it was kind of a weird moment," Potgieter told PGATour.com. "I didn't see it go in, so I didn't know. Kind of a blind tee shot, but ... when I saw my caddie run out to the fairway, and was pumping up his arms and going wild, I thought it was probably like a foot or two.
There's only been one par-4 ace recorded during a PGA Tour-sanctioned event - Andrew Magee's hole-in-one at the 17th of the Phoenix Open in 2001.
Unfortunately, Potgieter's ace won't be counted to that record since it was during a qualifier.
The new pro ultimately carded a 6-under par 66 on Monday to miss qualifying for the John Deere Classic by one stroke, but we're sure the par-4 ace softened the loss.
