Has Rory Mcilroy ever had a hole-in-one? Golfer's records explored

Modified Mar 04, 2023 07:16 GMT

Rory McIlroy hit his sole 'hole-in-one' in 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

A hole-in-one is a difficult feat that requires a lot of skill and a bit of luck as well to attempt it successfully. Although every golfer tries to achieve this rare feat in golf at least once in his lifetime, not many get successful in it.

Rory McIlroy is one of the most accomplished golfers of his time with 36 professional titles, which also includes four majors. However, in his career so far, he has made just one hole-in-one and that too came in the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. He used 9-iron to ace the 177-yard 15th hole at Yas Links.

It's understandable that Rory has made only one ace in his career so far as it is quite challenging to make a hole-in-one, with the probability of a professional tour player accomplishing it being as low as 1 in 3000.

For an average player, the odds decrease even more to 1 in 12,000. If a player aims to achieve two hole-in-ones in a single round, the likelihood drops significantly to 67 million to 1.

A few years back, McIlroy and Justin Thomas, two of the best golfers in the world, competed in a challenge called 'Chase The Ace' to try to make as many aces as they could in 50 shots each. Both came quite close to it several times but failed to even hit a single ace on the Par-3 143yard hole at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Even McIlroy himself can be heard saying:

"Sort of realizing why I haven't made a hole in one in six years."

Which pro golfer has the most hole-in-ones?

Mancil Davis holds the official record of most aces in golf history

Robert Allenby and Hal Sutton share the record for the most hole-in-ones on the PGA Tour, both achieving the feat 10 times. Meanwhile, Kathy Whitworth holds the record for the most hole-in-ones on the LPGA Tour, having done it 11 times. As for current professional players, Phil Mickelson has accomplished five hole-in-ones.

Tom Morris became was the first professional golfer to achieve this rare feat. He did it in the 1868 British Open.

Tiger Woods, who holds most of the professional golf records, has only managed to make a hole-in-one thrice on the PGA Tour.

If we are talking about an all-time hole-in-one record, regardless of professional or amateur status, Norman Manley from California has claimed to have achieved it an astonishing 59 times during his lifetime. Nonetheless, Mancil Davis' 51 hole-in-ones are 'generally recognized' as the official all-time record, as all 51 of his successful attempts have been extensively documented.

Typically, holes-in-one occur on the par-3 holes since they are shorter in distance. However, Shaun Lynch achieved this remarkable feat in 1995 on a par-5, covering an incredible distance of 496 yards.

Here's the official list of most aces on different tours