Steve Stricker's hole-in-one honoured as Shot of the Day in the second round of Memorial Tournament
Steve Stricker smashed a hole-in-one shot on the par-3 eighth in the second round of the $6.2 million Memorial Tournament, to earn the accolade of ‘Shot of the Day.’
The 44-year-old American stood on the par-3 hole with a 6-iron clutched in his hands. Drawing the tee shot towards the left, Stricker aimed and waited for the ball to correlate with the direction of the wind, which was blowing
from left to right. The ball flew up in the air and scooped in the centre of the green to roll gently into the cup. The veteran pumped a fist in the air to celebrate the accomplishment, with the crowd clapping almost endlessly.
The applause packed the player with loads of confidence, which ultimately helped him take the reins of the field. However, that was not the first hole-in-one shot of the American. In 1997, Stricker aced the par-3 16th
at the TPC Scottsdale during the 1997 Phoenix Open to amuse a crowd of 20,000, that later filled the whole course with the sound of clapping. The accomplishment was humongous, but was not played on the television for long, as Tiger Woods aced the same hole
before this Wisconsin native did and stole the limelight.
Recapturing the past, Stricker said, “You didn't see mine that year? No? That day, I had teed off the back nine first, so there wasn't a lot of people there. There wasn't too many people. ... I won the car, though.”
However, this time, the circumstances were different and Stricker had to walk to the clubhouse to buy drink for the house. Stricker said, “You know, it's a shock when you see that go in, obviously, but a good way, a great way to
finish the round. I made the turn 1-over for the round and shot 30 on the second nine, so got things going in the right direction.”
In addition to the magnificent stroke, the veteran birdied five holes against two bogeys and enjoyed a success rate of 83 percent in Green Hits in Regulation. The stats portrayed the sheer persistence of the player against the
wind and his command on the irons.
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