Will Zalatoris has finally found his rhythm at the ongoing Genesis Invitational. In the second round on Friday, he sank a sensational 184-yard hole-in-one on the par 3 14th hole of the Riviera Golf Course. The 27-year-old is playing his fourth official PGA Tour event since returning to professional golf. He had to sit out the whole 2022-23 season after withdrawing from the Masters Tournament last year due to a herniated disc.
The 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship winner raced up to sit on the tied sixth rank on the leaderboard after the end of the second round. Zalatoris earned himself a Genesis GV80 SUV which was worth around $57,700 for shooting a blistering ace. Also, his caddie, Joel Stock, will receive a Genesis Electrified GV70, which is even more costlier, at a price of around $66,450.
PGA Tour’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle shared the video of Will Zalatoris shooting an ace on the par 3 14th hole at Genesis Invitational. As soon as the golfer sank the hole-in-one, he jumped into his caddie, Joel Stock’s arms. They were seemingly too happy and why shouldn’t they be? After all, making an ace in a tournament whose sponsors are a luxurious car brand that offers great perks is incredible.
ACE ALERT
@WillZalatoris cards a 1️⃣ on Riviera’s 184-yard par 3 14th hole @TheGenesisInv!(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/SEZUWMEBaC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 16, 2024
What Did Will Zalatoris Say About His Hole-In-One On Friday At Genesis Invitational?
After the second day’s play ended, the 27-year-old American golfer spoke in the post-round interview and expressed his gratitude to receive a “nice little bonus”. He said that the was around 180 yards long (to be precise 184 yards) and he just pulled the shot about 10 feet and it sank perfectly into the hole. As quoted by Golf Digest, he said,
“I think it was 180 pin back into the wind and we were just trying to hit it kind of right in the middle of that gap between the two bunkers. I just pulled it about 10 feet and it landed perfectly on the fringe and killed it. Lucky to go in. It was a nice little bonus.”
Will Zalatoris also shared his thoughts on receiving cars for shooting a blistering ace at the Genesis Invitational on Friday. He recalled former PGA Tour pros, Peter Jocbsen and Rich Beem, and their moment of celebrating a car prize.
“That was kind of a fun bonus.” Zalatoris added, “Nice to add the shot into some of the fond memories of Peter Jacobsen hopping in the car. And same thing, Rich Beem, Beemer, same thing, hopping on top of it, so pretty fun.”
Zalatoris shot a round of 1 under par 70 in the second round of the Genesis Invitational. He currently stands on tied sixth rank on the leaderboard and will tee off at 12:48 am GMT with Corey Conners. The 27-year-old American must be hoping to finish even higher or at least cover some strokes on the leaderboard to get a shot at his second PGA Tour title.
