Aptly dubbed “The Greatest Show on Grass,” the WM Phoenix Open is unlike any other event in golf, although the folks at LIV Golf are certainly doing their best to emulate the atmosphere.
Held on the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale since 1987, the tournament is annually the best-attended event on the PGA Tour, and the roughly 600,000 fans that show up every year certainly know how to have a good time. (As one who’s been one of those 600,000 people on a few different occasions, believe me, it’s an absolute riot.)
The biggest attraction of the WM Phoenix Open, of course, is “The Coliseum,” the famed 16th hole where 20,000 people surround the 163-yard par-3 in a stadium-like setting. While commentator Jim Nantz will tell you that The Masters is a tradition unlike any other, the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale can stake that claim as well.
Over the years, there have been 11 holes-in-one at the 16th, none more famous than Tiger Woods‘ electric ace that literally shook the windows of the clubhouse that stands hundreds of yards away.
Ask 100 golf fans about the most iconic moments in Phoenix Open history, and you’d likely get 100 people talking Tiger.
However, while Woods’ ace was easily one of the most memorable moments in tournament history and of his illustrious career, it’s not the coolest hole-in-one that the Phoenix Open has provided.
That honor belongs to Andrew Magee, who, at the 2001 edition of the event, gave golf fans the only known hole-in-one on a par-4 in PGA Tour history. Yes, you read that correctly. And, yes, it’s even cooler than the one Happy Gilmore hit (you know you’re thinking it).
Andrew Magee’s Par-4 Hole-in-1 Ricocheted Off Tom Byrum’s Putter
By the time Magee arrived at the 2001 Phoenix Open, he was a seasoned veteran, having turned pro in 1984 after a stellar career at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a three-time All-American.
It had been nearly seven years since Magee had last visited the winner’s circle, his fourth and ultimately final PGA Tour victory having come at the 1994 Northern Telecom Open.
As Tiger was in the field at TPC Scottsdale that week, not many others were given great odds to win, let alone a 39-year-old who tied for 45th two weeks earlier in Tucson and missed the cut a week later at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Nevertheless, Magee gave it a go and liked his chances as he was a resident of Scottsdale and knew the course quite well.
Playing alongside Jonathan Kaye and Jerry Smith in the opening round, Magee was having a decent enough day until he recorded a disastrous double-bogey on the par-5 15th. However, he bounced back beautifully with a long birdie at the 16th, which naturally drew a nice ovation from the gallery within “The Coliseum.”
Holding the honor on the 332-yard, par-3 17th, Magee held off hitting his tee shot for a moment as the threesome of Tom Byrum, Steve Pate and Gary Nicklaus were still on the green.
After conferring with his playing partners, Magee, who averaged 282.9 yards off the tee in 2001, decided to go ahead and hit, figuring his ball would maybe roll to the front edge of the putting surface at best.
But then it happened. With a slight breeze behind him, Magee, who’d later say he was still amped up from the 15th, flushed his driver and unleashed a bomb that carried roughly 300 yards and took a massive hop forward toward the bunker near the green.
The ball ricocheted off the bunker, narrowly missed Pate, and made its way toward Byrum, who was lining up an eight-foot putt. Miraculously, Magee’s ball struck Byrum’s putter, hit the flagstick, and dropped in for the coolest ace in Phoenix Open history. Sorry, Tiger, it’s true.
Magee ultimately finished with a 5-under round of 66 that day. He shot 71-72-72 over the next three days to finish at 3-under for the week, a full 25 shots back of winner Mark Calcavecchia, who set a new record for the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history at 28-under (it’s since been broken).
But nobody seems to remember that.
Tiger Woods’ Hole-in-1 at the 16th Hole at the 1997 Phoenix Open Was Still Pretty Cool
There’s no denying the fact that Woods’ ace at the 16th during the third round of the 1997 Phoenix Open was still pretty awesome.
Only 21 at the time with three PGA Tour wins and zero major championships to his credit, Woods shot 65-73-68-65 to tie for fifth.
Stats courtesy of PGATour.com.
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The Greatest Hole-in-1 at the Phoenix Open Didn’t Come From Tiger Woods