U.S. Open 2024: Watch Francesco Molinari make ridiculous ace to survive cut on the number

PINEHURST, N.C. — When you come to the final hole needing a hole-in-one to make the cut at the U.S. Open, you come to the final hole without a prayer. There's no chance you're going to walk off with an ace, right?

RIGHT?

NBC anchor Mike Tirico agreed. "Molinari...going to miss the cut," he said late on Friday at Pinehurst No. 2, while introducing the shot. Only Brad Faxon gave him an inkling of hope, saying, "Unless he pulls a Sepp Straka," referring to the other ace on No. 9 this week.

Then this happened:

Unreal. And historic. It is believed to be the first ace scored on the last hole to make a cut for any tournament in the modern era. Molinari, whose ace gave him a second-round, two-over 72 and a five-over total, got his props from playing partners Min Woo Lee and Sergio Garcia, and Faxon got kudos from Tirico. All richly deserved. And there is now an approximately 99.9-percent chance Molinari—winner of the 2018 Open Championship—goes 62-62 on the weekend to win by a million.

MORE GOLF DIGEST U.S. OPEN COVERAGE

U.S. Open 101: Answering all your frequently asked questions

How to watch the 2024 U.S. Open

Power Rankings: Every player in the U.S. Open field, ranked

Video: Every hole at Pinehurst No. 2

The scariest green at Pinehurst, explained

Is the USGA going to set up Pinehurst extra hard because of recent low scores in majors?

Tiger is playing Pinehurst on a special exemption. Here’s what it is and why he got it

What would you shoot at the U.S. Open? Our new tool will tell you

U.S. Open anchor sites are about far more than golf

The U.S. Open champion who died in a jail cell

The USGA is about to play its 1,000th championship. The best 9 stats from the first 999

Payne’s Pinehurst Moment: An oral history of the 1999 U.S. Open