Rory McIlroy hit his first career ace on the PGA Tour on Thursday in the first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.
The hole-in-one came from 214 yards out on the par-3 eighth hole with a five-iron. Up until that shot, McIlroy had been 1-over through seven holes, including back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes due to poor putting.
He followed that shot up with a birdie on the ninth hole, which put him six strokes off leader Keegan Bradley’s 8-under through the first round. McIlroy has finished in the top 20 in all of his four career appearances at Travelers. He’s never finished better than tied for 11th, though.
McIlroy entered this week’s tournament on the heels of a second-place finish at the 2023 US Open in Los Angeles. He finished one shot behind first-time major winner Wyndham Clark. Although that was his best finish at that tournament since his win there in 2011, McIlroy hasn’t won a major since 2014, when he took home the PGA Championship and the British Open.
McIlroy has one win on Tour this season, back at The CJ Cup in October, which marked his 23rd career win. He has seven top-10 finishes so far, including in his last four starts. He entered this week at No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings.