Cue the chaos, part II: another hole-in-one on 16 at WM Phoenix Open
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Carlos Ortiz 9-iron from 179 yards found bottom of cup not 24 hours after Sam Ryder ace
Written by Cameron Morfit
Carlos Ortiz 9-iron from 179 yards found bottom of cup not 24 hours after Sam Ryder ace
Carlos Ortiz goes ace, eagle on his way out at WM Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Another roar shook the grounds as beer rained down in celebration.
Not 24 hours after the week’s first ace at TPC Scottsdale’s wild 16th hole – the first one in seven years – Carlos Ortiz made another at the raucous par-3 at the WM Phoenix Open on Sunday.
Ortiz hit 9-iron and watched the ball land well short and roll into the hole from 179 yards, the crowd detonating as the ball disappeared. Ortiz congratulated playing partners Kevin Kisner and Joseph Bramlett and their caddies as chaos ensued for the second straight day.
“I honestly thought it was a little bit short,” Ortiz said. “That's why I started walking. I was pretty surprised that got in. I don't even know what to say. It was unbelievable. I didn't know how to react.
“A lot of people cheering for you,” he continued, “and then you start trying to watch out for your head because I got actually nailed pretty hard on the back with a beer can on the back, and then after that I was just trying to just avoid all the cans I could.”
Sam Ryder aced the same hole Saturday, but from just 124 yards. This marks just the second time there have been two aces on 16 in the same week; Tiger Woods (third round) and Steve Stricker (final round) each made a hole-in-one at the iconic hole in 1997.
Although it was reported that someone bet $10,000 on Ortiz to win, at 150-to-1 odds, before the tournament, he was well off the pace when he made a hole-in-one on 16, his seventh hole of the day after starting on the back nine. (The leaders were still on the second hole.)
Be that as it may, Ortiz further helped his cause when he drove the short, par-4 17th hole and made the eagle putt from 12 feet, 9 inches. “That's a first for me, making a 1 and then a 2,” he said. He ultimately signed for a 4-under 67 to finish 7 under overall, well back.
His fireworks on 16 and 17 marked the first time a player has made back-to-back eagles on the PGA TOUR this season, and the second time in as many seasons that Ortiz has. He went back-to-back at the Sony Open in Hawaii last year.
Ortiz’s ace on 16 was the 11th all-time at the par 3, and Ortiz’s third on TOUR.
