Are There Any PGA Tour Pros Without a Hole in One?
In spite of the fact that he was able to drive the golf ball over 400 yards and win multiple PGA Tour events a 25-year-old Bryson DeChambeau had still never had a hole in one by the time he teed it up for the 2019 Masters.
He finally achieved his first ever hole in one however when he knocked in a 7-iron on the par-16th hole at Augusta but are there still any professionals out there without a hole in one or do most pro golfers have one?
There are no current PGA Tour players without a hole in one in their careers but a number of pros have never had an ace in tournament play. 16 out of the world’s top 50 golfers, including multiple major champions Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Bubba Watson and Brooks Koepka, have never had a hole-in-one in a PGA Tour event.
Given the skill levels of the elite pros and the supreme accuracy they have with their irons in particular it would be a highly unusual scenario for them not to record at least one hole in one across their long careers which can often span decades.
Indeed many professional golfers have been lucky enough (if you can call it luck!) to achieve the feat on many occasions.
But take a closer look at the hole in one stats and you will find that they are still not a common occurrence even amongst the best players in the world and that the pros themselves often only really care about the ones they have made in PGA Tour and other major tour events!
There Are Great Pros Without A PGA Tour Hole in One
A hole in one in golf – or an ‘ace’ as it is often referred to – is not a very common occurrence even amongst the best professional players in the world.
And a simple look at the basic dimensions of what the sport involves shows why.
The golf ball itself is only 1.68 inches or 42.67 millimetres in diameter and can weigh no more than 1.62 ounces or 45.93 grams.
To achieve a hole in one then requires a player to put that small ball in one shot into a hole, well over 100 yards and often over 200 yards away, which itself only 4.25 inches or 107.95 mm in diameter.
So as you can see it is not an easy thing to do even for the very best players in the world.
“A hole in one is great but it is like trying to find a unicorn, it’s very rare.”
Jason Day, former USPGA Champion
And while virtually all pro golfers have had a hole in one a hole in one at some point in their golf careers the pros themselves tend to mainly care about the aces they have achieved on the PGA Tour or in other tournament play.
Dustin Johnson for example has had 13 holes in one since he started playing golf but says he only really counts and cares about the four he has achieved in tournaments.
Taking that as the benchmark, and the fact that there have been only 1726 holes in one recorded in professional golf tournaments since the first by Tom Morris Jr. in 1868, the stats show that there are a number of top pros who have never had a hole in one on the PGA Tour.
And the list of pros without a hole in one in a PGA Tour event includes:
- Collin Morikawa
- Cameron Smith
- Rory McIlroy
- Sam Burns
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Billy Horschel
- Brooks Koepka
- Daniel Berger
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Kevin Kisner
- Talor Gooch
- Tom Hoge
- Russell Henley
- Cameron Young
- Lucas Herbert
- Richard Bland
- Bubba Watson.
Also while some pros have had the best possible start when it comes to achieving an ace on the PGA Tour event it does not always mean that their luck will continue.
For example on only the third day of his PGA Tour career world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, who was only 17 at the time and still an amateur, aced the second hole at the 2014 Byron Nelson Championship.
But since then, despite his multiple PGA Tour wins and Masters triumph, he hasn’t managed to get another hole in one on Tour.
Given how difficult a feat a hole in one is to achieve for regular players amateurs may think it’s a bit rude of pros to only care about the aces they make in tournaments.
There is a good reason for this though. When PGA Tour players have a hole in one at events these days there tends to be a prize on offer and very frequently it is a prize which will benefit one of the fans or a charity.
At some tournaments multiple thousands of dollars are donated to charity on the successful player’s behalf while in others a pro’s ace will win one lucky fan a year’s worth of their mortgage payments.
And when Jason Day won a car for his hole in one at the 2017 BMW Championship he gave it away in return for the payment of a youngster’s college tuition!
Breakdown of Pros Hole in One Records on PGA Tour
When it comes to studying the games of the best golfers in the world we often focus on how far they hit the ball, how many putts they hole and of course how great their scores are but it is often fun to compare less common stuff like how many holes in one they have all had.
Being superb players who have played the game at the highest level, often for a long time, it is inevitable that some of them have had a large number of aces but the pros tend to focus on the number of holes in one they have had in tournament play versus the number they have had over their entire careers.
But when it comes to looking at those numbers even the top pros haven’t had as many holes in one as you may think.
So here is a detailed list of how many holes in one today’s top pros and some of the greatest players ever to play the game, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson, have had in PGA Tour events.
| PLAYER | HOLES IN ONE IN PGA TOUR EVENTS | TOURNAMENTS |
| Jason Day | 2 | 2017 BMW Championship 2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 1 | 2019 Masters Tournament |
| Tony Finau | 2 | 2021 Mayakoba Golf Classic 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii |
| Rickie Fowler | 2 | 2015 Quicken Loans National 2009 Frys.com Open |
| Sergio Garcia | 2 | 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship 2008 BMW Championship |
| Ben Hogan | 1 | 1947 Esmeralda Open |
| Dustin Johnson | 4 | 2015 WCC-Cadillac Championship 2011 The Open Championship 2010 Northern Trust Open 2008 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial |
| Jack Nicklaus | 3 | 1979 Bob Hope Desert Classic 1971 Greater Jacksonville Open 1963 Memphis Open Invitational |
| Greg Norman | 2 | 1994 THE TOUR Championship 1990 MCI Heritage Golf Classic |
| Phil Mickelson | 5 | 2005 84 LUMBER Classic 2001 U.S. Open Championship 1995 THE PLAYERS Championship 1995 Shell Houston Open 1994 Kemper Open |
| Byron Nelson | 1 | 1942 Tam 0’Shanter Open |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 3 | 2020 WCC-HSBC Champions 2016 The Open Championship 2016 Masters Tournament |
| Arnold Palmer | 3 | 1980 Bob Hope Desert Classic 1965 Pensacola Open Invitational 1959 Tournament of Champions |
| Gary Player | 1 | 1979 Greater Greensboro Open |
| Jon Rahm | 3 | 2021 Memorial Tournament 2020 WCC-Mexico Championship 2017 Safeway Open |
| Justin Rose | 2 | 2007 The Barclays 2004 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro |
| Gene Sarazen | 1 | 1973 The Open Championship |
| Xander Schauffele | 1 | 2019 TOUR Championship |
| Adam Scott | 2 | 2012 Masters Tournament 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am |
| San Snead | 1 | 1946 Winnipeg Open |
| Jordan Spieth | 3 | 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational 2015 BMW Championship 2013 Puerto Rico Open |
| Justin Thomas | 3 | 2019 Masters Tournament 2017 WCC-Mexico Championship 2015 The Greenbrier Classic |
| Lee Trevino | 1 | 1973 USI Classic |
| Tom Watson | 5 | 2011 The Open Championship 1989 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 1980 U.S. Open Championship 1977 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational 1974 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open |
| Tiger Woods | 2 | 1997 Phoenix Open 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open |
Fun PGA Tour Hole in One Facts and Figures
Although holes in one are rare things even for the best players in the world there are still some pros who have managed to achieve the feat more than their fair share of times.
4-time PGA Tour winner Robert Allenby and former USPGA champion Hal Sutton hold the record for the most holes-in-one on the PGA Tour with 10 each. 1994 meanwhile is the year when the most holes in one were achieved in a single PGA Tour season with 44 aces being recorded.
And the records for holes in one don’t stop there and unbelievably some of the top pros have even managed to achieve an ace more than once in a single round.
even managed to achieve an ace more than once in a single round.
Brian Harman made two holes in one in the 4th round of the 2015 Barclays Tournament. After holing a 7-iron from 184 yards at the 3rd hole he hit a 4-hybrid 220 yards for his second hole-in-one in the same round at the 14th. Yusaku Miyazato and Bill Whedon are the only other golfers to achieve this feat in PGA Tour history.
Unbelievably Andrew Magee has also managed to get a hole in one at a par 4 in PGA Tournament play recording the ace at the 17th hole in round 1 of the Pheonix Open in 2001.
And some pros have even managed to kick off their PGA Tour careers by getting a hole in one in their very first professional start although one of the names on that list should probably not have suprised us too much looking back.
In his very first outing as a professional on the PGA Tour at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open Tiger Woods announced himself with a hole in one at the 14th hole of his 4th round!
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