56-year-old golfer makes back-to-back holes-in-one at US Senior Open
By Jack Bantock, CNN
(CNN) — 67 million to one. That’s the odds of making two holes-in-one in a single round, according to the National Hole-In-One Registry. On Friday, Frank Bensel Jr. made two in a row.
While some of the game’s most talented players wait years – even entire careers – for an ace, the 56-year-old went back-to-back in a remarkable few minutes at the second round of the US Senior Open.
The Jupiter, Florida-native tore through the par-three fourth and fifth holes of Rhode Island’s Newport Country Club in just two swings, going 184 yards from tee to cup before acing again from 203 yards mere minutes later.
Four consecutive bogeys immediately afterwards may have undone the Floridian’s tournament progress, lifting him to one-over par for the round and six-over overall, but his near-miraculous efforts enter him into a league of his own.
No golfer has ever made back-to-back aces in any Tour-sanctioned event on record, according to the PGA Tour Champions: a professional tour for golfers aged 50 and over which is hosting the third of five major championships this week.
Ireland’s Seamus Power made consecutive holes-in-one at Augusta National last year, but did so during the pre-tournament Par Three contest as opposed to the Masters itself.
A hole-in-one is made just once every 3,500 rounds across more than 500 million rounds played in the United States each year, according to data compiled by the National Hole-In-One Registry, which has logged more than 108,000 “valid” aces since 2006.
An “average” player has a 12,000 to one chance of making an ace, four times less likely than the odds of a Tour player holing one, the registry states.
“Truly historic,” tournament organizer the United States Golf Association (USGA) wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing Bensel Jr.’s scorecard.
Bensel Jr. has played six events on the PGA Tour since 1998, most recently at the 2021 PGA Championship, though is yet to make the cut.
His appearance at the US Senior Open marks his third on the PGA Tour Champions and the first since a 77th place finish at the Senior PGA Championship in 2021.
Sunday’s victor will claim an $800,000 cut of a $4 million prize purse, with Bernhard Langer seeking to defend his crown.
Last year’s victory – Langer’s 46th on the PGA Tour Champions and 12th senior major – saw the two-time Masters winner become the most successful golfer in the circuit’s history.
The 66-year-old German was seven shots behind the leading duo, Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita and Australia’s Richard Green, heading into the second round.
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