Aaron Rai entered the 18th hole at 8 under at the 2023 Players Championship to inch a little closer toward contention, but the score alone wasn’t necessarily at the forefront of his mind at the time. What was no doubt at the forefront of his mind was how he got to 8 under to that point: recording an ace on the famous par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass that will go down in history.
Rai’s ace — part of a 3-under birdie-eagle stretch on Nos. 16-17 — is the second of the tournament on the 17th hole, which is the first time that’s ever happened at the Players Championship. It’s just the 12th in that hole’s history but the 41st ever at the Players Championship.
Here are the last 10 that have taken place at the famous 17th, including Hayden Buckley’s from the opening round. What’s truly crazy is that from 2003-15 there wasn’t an ace at all. Now, there have been two in three days!
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With the one, Rai jumped into a tie for 7th place at 8 under, just four back of the leaders Min Woo Lee and Scottie Scheffler at the time he made the ace.
The 17th is playing just 122 yards on Saturday with a front left pin. It’s been one of the easier holes on the golf course with 18 birdies. Still, Rai is the only player with that coveted ace.