Francesco Molinari has achieved some remarkable feats in golf but he said the sport still has the power to surprise him after he made a hole-in-one and made the cut at the U.S. Open.
The Italian is a major champion, Rolex Series champion, former European number one and a five-point scorer in five Ryder Cup matches.
But when he stood on the ninth tee at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, the final hole of the second round, he was seven over par and had just made a bogey.
He then teeed up a seven-iron in incredible fashion to secure his place in the tournament for the weekend.
“It's hard to believe something like this can happen,” he said. “I've been on the golf course for a while and I thought I'd seen it all, but this sport always surprises you.”
The hole-in-one was completed and entered the expected entry point!
beautiful @F_Molinari 😍#USOpen pic.twitter.com/rWLrcsrO6M
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 14, 2024
“I didn’t have a lot of positive thoughts, to be honest. I just had eight bogeys.
“I was playing the last few holes thinking nine was probably my last real chance to make birdie if I drove well. Then I lost a shot on eight, which left me with one option, but it wasn’t a very high chance.
“I thought from where we were standing, the ball just looked like it would go right over the bunker and the green was getting firm, so it was an ideal shot.
“Then he started tracking and was going to break left to right on the hole and we were joking with Serge (Sergio Garcia) that it looked like he was on a great line the whole time, but what were the real chances?
.@seppstraka Talking to best friends about Trump and his celebrations 🙌#USOpen https://t.co/a5rC2UGVYo pic.twitter.com/dwATSRttcu
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 14, 2024
“I don't know what to say. It's unbelievable.”
Molinari's hole-in-one wasn't the only one with a seven-iron on the ninth hole, as Austria's Sepp Straka also had one earlier in the day.
“To me, that was the perfect number,” he said. “Trying to land it at 185 yards, had a really good swing. Hit the center of the clubface and hit it right. Luckily, it rolled into the hole.
“One of my best friends, JT (Boston), played with me today. I was there to see my hole-in-one on the par-3 at Augusta. Our celebration was a little better this time.”