AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters doesn’t start until Thursday but Sepp Straka’s week is already made.
The 2022 Honda Classic winner played a practice round Monday at Augusta National, going off on the second nine with Abe Ancer, J.T. Poston and Chris Kirk. When the group reached the venerable par-3 12th, Straka hit a shot that made Golden Bell ring loud through the property. And if that sounds dramatic for a practice round, well, it was … because Straka made a hole-in-one:
Only thing better than that shot was Straka’s reaction, and the reaction of the rest of the group.
Though the par-3 16th has facilitated its fair share of aces over the past decade, it’s been 35 years since the 12th conceded a hole-in-one (Curtis Strange in 1988). Yes, this doesn’t count toward the tournament’s official stats, but we don’t think that will make Straka’s feat any less special.
Straka is making just his second career Masters start this week. He finished T-30 in his tournament debut last spring.
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