American Matt Kuchar pulled off what he described as the ‘saddest’ hole-in-one of his career on day three of the WGC – HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
There is a gleaming new Cadillac sedan sitting on the tee at the par three, 17th hole and when Kuchar holed-out from 193-yards he thought he had won a new car.
However heavy rain on day one of the event saw officials move the tee forward on day three from 212-yards to 193-yards, and that is seven yards short of 200-yards.
And under the insurance rules being under 200-yards meant no brand new Cadillac CT6 T40 sedan for the American Ryder Cup star.
“It was the saddest hole-in-one,” said Kuchar.
“I knew I just made a hole-in-one and I was teased by this beautiful car sitting there, that’s not to be mine. Most of the time a hole-in-one, you’re just overjoyed with excitement.
“But literally, a minute before my shot, I found out.
“There’s a car sitting there, the most beautiful Cadillac sitting on a tee with the note below saying, ‘This hole is under 200 yards, thus no longer qualifies for the insurance for the giveaway for the prize’.”
He said the worst part was he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain it all to his young golf-mad son.
“I’ve got this nine-year-old son at home that’s just a golf junkie, always asking have I ever made a hole-in-one with a car on it,” said Kuchar.
“And now I finally have. But unfortunately the insurance was taken away due to the forward tee.”
But Kuchar then revealed he found out why the tee had been moved and said he knew who to blame and that was the reigning Open Champion, Henrik Stenson.
“Henrik Stenson came up and said: ‘My fault, the back tee box was not in very good shape’,” said Kuchar.
“He was the one that asked for the tees to be moved forward. So he owes me something.”
The ace did help propel Kuchar to a 68 and to nine-under for the tournament.
“A hole-in-one is great to have. It’s an eagle and to put two-under on a scorecard on a hole is a nice thing and certainly helps my placement out a good bit.”
He is in a six-way tie for eighth place going into Sunday’s final round, eight shots behind leader Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
