DORAL, Fla. – Officials moved the tee up at Doral’s fourth hole to 207 yards on Saturday, a pre-planned move by the PGA Tour that likely won’t be repeated.
After two days from the back tees, which plays about 230 yards, Dustin Johnson and tournament leader J.B. Holmes took advantage of the shorter tee to score two aces in less than 30 minutes.
To put that in context, from 1990 to 2014 there had been no holes-in-one at Doral’s fourth hole. On Saturday, Holmes and Johnson did it on either side of a commercial break.
Both players hit 7-irons on the hole, which played to a 3.521 scoring average on Friday, and the ace lifted Holmes back into solo possession of the lead which he extended to five strokes with a third-round 70.
“I was actually aiming right at it,” said Holmes, who now has two aces on Tour. “I was planning on the wind moving it, and I thought if I hit it perfect. One of the rare times you get a hole in one where you actually hit it just like you want to.”
Johnson’s effort wasn’t as flawless, but it still added up to a “1” on the scorecard,
“I pushed it just a hair right,” said Johnson, who is tied with Bubba Watson in second place at 6 under. “It was still a really good shot obviously and got lucky it went in.”
