Ryder 'still coming down off the adrenaline' after raucous rare hole in one

By Sports Desk February 12, 2022

Sam Ryder admitted he is still coming down off the adrenaline after his exhilarating hole in one on the 16th hole at the Phoenix Open on Saturday.

Ryder, who had endured a difficult round which included four bogeys and a double bogey, landed the ace, ushering in wild scenes of celebration from the packed onlooking crowd.

Play had to be halted for 15 minutes as debris was cleared off the course after the crowd splashed drinks and threw beer cans in the air in a raucous celebration of a rare feat.

The 32-year-old American became the first player to hit a hole in one on the 16th at Scottsdale since Francesco Molinari in 2015. Ryder is also the 10th player to achieve the feat.

“Still kind of coming down off the adrenaline,” Ryder told reporters, “But, yeah, it was pretty crazy.

"It's got to be number one. Nothing compares to that... it was a blur. I can't describe it."

Ryder hit a 124-yard tee shot which spun left and into the cup for the ace, re-living it afterwards.

"[Chris Kirk] hit a really good shot in the middle of the green, so I kind of got a little bit of feel off of what it was playing," Ryder explained. "It was just one of those things I was talking to my caddie, and it just ended up being a perfect 54 degree wedge.

"The club - everything always plays a little shorter in there, adrenaline or whatever it is, it's just, it always plays shorter. I just told him, 'it's just got to be that, doesn't it?' And he's like, 'that's all I ever thought'.

"We just talked through it a little bit and I was looking just out to the right and wanted to come down around his ball and maybe it was an accidental one-yard pull or something. It didn't look like it was moving too fast on the camera when I saw it, but in the air it just looked perfect."

Despite the hole in one, Ryder is eight strokes off the pace, sitting at six-under-overall ahead of the final day on Sunday.

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