Pebble Beach Pro-Am: McIlroy, Lowry Show Hole-in-One Magic: Scheffler Returns!

Pebble Beach Pro-Am exploded with excitement when a pair of golf superstars pulled off remarkable feats. Scottie Scheffler was back in action after missing a couple of tournaments following a kitchen mishap. The top-ranked golfer injured himself while preparing a festive meal. He had a rough start but quickly settled in. Scheffler made sure that early bogey was his only mistake of the day on the PGA tour round 100 since the beginning of 2022. The pro round at the spyglass hill course was a sight to see with two of his Ryder Cup teammates, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, pulling off stunning hole-in-ones. McIlroy's ace at the 15th hole was a direct hit, a shot described as a "slam dunk" that sank directly into the hole. Ludvig Åberg joined in the celebration. The four-time major champion's previous hole-in-one was at the 2023 Travelers Championship. That earlier ace was similar, a high shot that appeared to be on target but didn’t roll off the top edge. Meanwhile the PGA Tour ace Shane Lowry on hole 7. The Irishman was also a Ryder Cup teammate of McIlroy and Åberg. Unlike McIlroy's ace, Lowry’s ball took the traditional route, landing on the green and rolling in. This was Lowry’s third hole-in-one on the PGA Tour, following previous aces at the Masters in 2016 and the Players Championship in 2022. It was the first time since 2009 that the Pebble Beach tournament saw more than one hole-in-one in a single round. The Pebble Beach Pro-Am also saw an intense competition. A few golfers were just a few strokes behind Rassy Henley, the tournament leader. Jake Knapp, Justin Rose, Cam Davis, Sepp Straka, Rasmus Højgaard, and Viktor Hovland all finished one stroke behind Henley. McIlroy and Lowry both finished six under par, 2 shots behind leader. Henley began the PGA tour round with a bogey but quickly got his game back on track. He was pleased with his performance. "I saw a few errant shots out there, " he stated, "but overall, I kept the course in front of me and was able to make a decent amount of birdies. "