Rory McIlroy enjoyed his opening round at the Travelers Championship on Thursday, but it will be hard to beat his 2023 feat.
McIlroy posted a six-under-par first round at TPC River Highlands, seeing him finish the day tied for third place in the leaderboard.
Rory McIlroy made personal history with stunning moment at Travelers Championship
His score of 64 was impressive, but it was a 68 two years ago that will always remain as one of the Northern Irishman’s best memories.
During that first day of the Travelers two years ago, McIlroy achieved something he had never done before in his career.
He pulled off his first-ever hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy struck a perfect 215-yard tee shot on the par-three eighth hole at TPC River Highlands, landing it a few yards shy of the hole.
The ball then rolled directly towards the hole, as commentators shouted: “Do it Rory, do it!”
And it dropped for an ace, with McIroy lifting his arms aloft in joy as he celebrated back at the tee box.
After sharing his celebrations with his caddie and others at the eighth, he turned to acknowledge the joyous fans behind him.
The hole-in-one came at just the right time too, as he had struggled with his putter, bogeying two holes to go overpar beforehand.
Speaking about his first ever ace on the PGA Tour, McIlroy said: “Five-iron to 215 yards, slightly back into the wind off the right.
“As hole-in-ones go, I’ve had them in the past where it has been an okay shot and you get a little lucky.
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McIlroy perfectly sent his tee shot 214 yards on the eighth holeCredit: PGA Tour / YouTube
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It bounced close to hole and rolled ever closerCredit: PGA Tour / YouTube
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The ball then dropped in for his first-ever ace on the PGA TourCredit: PGA Tour / YouTube
“That was the best shot of the day that I hit. Obviously a bonus for it to go in the hole, but it was really cool.
“I played pretty averagely up until that point and felt like that hole-in-one got me going a little bit.”
McIlroy followed the ace up with a birdie at the ninth at TPC River Highlands before going on to drop some shots late in his round.
It meant he ended the opening day eight strokes back of Denny McCarthy at the top of the leaderboard.
The 36-year-old went on to finish the tournament T7 on -18, with Keegan Bradley winning the Travelers at -23.
He would then achieve his second hole-in-one on the PGA Tour in January of this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
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McIlroy’s second ace came earlier this year at the Pebble Beach Pro-AmCredit: Getty
The low-scoring course at TPC River Highlands brings plenty of birdie chances and certainly increases the chances of an ace.
But we’re yet to see any at this year’s event, with Scottie Scheffler tying for the lead as things stand.
Scheffler is eight under par after the opening round, level with Austin Ekroat and two ahead of McIlroy.
McIlory begins his second round at 6:45pm UK time on Friday and he’ll hope to potentially add another ace to his collection.
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