Monday qualifier pulls off feat only accomplished five times EVER on this tour

Single-shot stories don’t get much more incredible in pro golf than the one authored by Timmy Crawford on Saturday in the Korn Ferry Tour’s The Ascendant at TPC Colorado.

A 23-year-old who played most of his college golf at Loyola Chicago before transferring to Illinois as a grad student, Crawford Monday qualified this week and is playing in his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

Making the cut would have been memorable enough, but Crawford went from feel-good vibes to historic elation for how he played the par-4 third hole in the third round. The hole is a dogleg left around a large lake, with the card reading 365 yards. However, the carry over the water to the flag was 336 on Saturday, and TPC Colorado has an elevation of 5,000 feet, so that helps. The course is the longest on the KFT at more than 8,000(!) yards.

Crawford ripped a driver, and though, unfortunately, there is no video of the shot, the ShotLink view is a fun one, with a direct line from tee to hole.

The ball went in for an ace—only the fifth hole-in-one on a par-4 in KFT history. How remarkable is this kind of albatross? Only ONE has ever been scored on the PGA Tour, by Andrew Magee in the 2001 Phoenix Open. The KFT par-4 aces also are far outnumbered by sub-60 scores—there are 12 of those.

The KFT last hole-in-one on a par 4 was scored 12 years ago, by Rob Oppenheim 2012 Korn Ferry Tour Championship on a 330-yard hole at TPC Craig Ranch

Crawford is not by any means a household name, but that's the beauty of the accomplishment: A skilled player can make history in any given round. He spent four seasons at Loyola and set the school’s single-season scoring average record in 2022-23 at 71.5. He played in four tournaments in the Illinois lineup this past season and notched three top-10s, including his lone college win in the Flyer Invitational when he played as an individual.

Remarkably, for the Illini’s NCAA Championship appearance in May, Crawford wasn’t able to crack the starting lineup on a team that earned the No. 1 seed for match play before being eliminated by Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals.

For this week, at least, none of his teammates have better bragging rights.

Par-4 Aces on Korn Ferry Tour

Chip Beck, 2003 Omaha Classic, Round 1, ninth hole at Champions Run, 315 yards

Richard S. Johnson, 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open, Round 4, 15th hole at The Hills, 347 yards

Rahil Gangjee, 2011 Mylan Classic, Round 4, 15th hole at Southpointe Golf Club, 316 yards

Rob Oppenheim, 2012 Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Round 4, 14th hole at TPC Craig Ranch, 330 yards

Timmy Crawford, 2024 The Ascendant presented by Blue, Round 3, third hole at TPC Colorado, 365 yards