Many consider a hole-in-one to be golf’s rarest feat, but there’s one better and more elusive: the albatross, going 3-under par on a single hole.
Last week at The Players Championship, Harris English dropped a 236-yard long iron on the par-5 11th hole at TPC Sawgrass for a 2, and it only took a few days for the feat to be duplicated.
Playing the 573-yard par-5 11th hole at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, the Scotsman pulled a 3-wood from 275 yards and let it rip. Despite no cameramen in behind the green, the cameras were rolling and caught the rarest of hole outs.
“I mean, a massive bonus, obviously. It’s really cool to have an albatross,” Knox told PGATour.com before slightly undervaluing its rarity. “I think it’s a bigger deal to have a hole-in-one, to be honest – even though (an albatross) is more under par.
“Obviously, it was cool to have it. It’s great to go from plus-2 to minus-1 in one hole. That changes your outlook of the day real quick.”
Indeed, Knox was struggling. He posted a 2-over par 38 on the front nine, which included two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey before turning for home and firing a scorching 6-under par 29 on the back to post 4-under par and sit one shot back of the first-round co-leaders.
Despite being the second albatross in eight days on the PGA Tour — there were only two all season last year — Knox’s 2 on the par-5 was the first in the 19-year history of the Valspar Championship, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
