WATCH: Travis Smyth Makes Hole-In-One On 17th At Royal Liverpool
The Australian made the first hole-in-one of the 151st Open Championship on the new par 3 17th hole
The new 'Little Eye' par 3 17th hole has been a divisive one this week but one pro managed to ace it during Friday's second round.
Travis Smyth knocked down an iron shot into the undulating green, with his ball landing just short of the pin and then hopping straight into the hole. The Australian arrived to the tee at 10-over-par but left it at eight-over after making the first hole-in-one of the 2023 Open Championship.
Watch Travis Smyth's hole-in-one at The Open:
🚨🚨HOLE-IN-ONE on the 17th at Royal Liverpool from Travis Smyth!! 👏👏👏pic.twitter.com/ePUtxJ3ObDJuly 21, 2023
Smyth is level par for the hole through two rounds, after making a double bogey five in Thursday's opening round. The Australian mainly plays on the Asian Tour following three appearances in LIV Golf last year.
He was making his Major championship debut this week and will likely be missing the cut by some margin.
And while he found the hole easy on Friday, 'Little Eye' has been criticised for being too extreme if you miss the putting surface.
“Unfortunately I think this Open Championship could be remembered for a calamity that happened,” experienced bagman and Motocaddy brand ambassador, Billy Foster, told Golf Monthly.
“There was nothing wrong with the little par three they had before and they've created a monstrosity in my opinion.
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“The green is very small. If you land it a foot short it rolls back into a coffin that's underground, so deep. This is challenging the best golfers in the world that will be making 6s, 7s and 8s.”
"It's probably not my cup of tea," Richard Bland said. "I'm sure there's a few guys that have said that. But it's there and we've got to play it. You've got to man up and do it. But yeah, for me, I think it's just a little out of the context of the golf course.
"I played it like 30 years ago, and I didn't remember it and fell in love with it as soon as I came back and started playing. What a great challenge we've got. Then 17 is a bit of a sore thumb, I think, really. I think it just needs a bit of -- the green just needs to be bigger, I think. But it is what it is."
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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