Matthew Wolff tees off on the 18th hole during the first round of the LIV Golf tournament. (AP)American golfer Matthew Wolff created history in the Saudi-backed breakaway Live Golf league with the first hole-in-one. It carried him to a 7-under 63 in the LIV Golf Invitational Series in Boston on Friday. Wolff is tied for the lead with Talor Gooch.
Wolff seized his share of the lead with the help of two eagles.
Wolff made his ace on the 178-yard second hole, his fifth of the round. The ball took one-hop and disappeared into the cup for the first ace in the fourth LIV Golf Invitational series. The former Oklahoma State star had another eagle on the par-5 12th hole to go along with six birdies. Those offset three bogeys and was enough for him to take the lead.
MATTHEW WOLFF HOLE IN ONE
FIRST IN LIV GOLF HISTORY ⬇️ 🕳️ #LIVGolf #LIVGolfBoston pic.twitter.com/pxukPFdYxH
— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) September 2, 2022
Wolff joined LIV Golf in June after spending three years on the PGA Tour. He turned pro in 2019 after playing collegiately at Oklahoma State. He had one tournament win on the Tour, winning the 3M Open that same year.
“It was really cool to do that on a part of the golf course where there’s a lot of fans, and to be the first one to have an ace at LIV Golf is really good,” said Wolff, whose tee shot at the 178-yard second hole — his fifth — bounced once and rolled into the cup.
“I’m thrilled and stuff, but I’d rather be holding that trophy at the end of the week,” added Wolff, who also eagled the par-five 12th.
LIV Golf tournaments are 54-hole events (in contrast to the 72-hole competitions on the regular tours).
The 48 players in the field are divided into four-man teams for the three-day contests, which provide guaranteed prize money much more than what is on offer on the other tours, where a golfer doesn’t get any prize money if he doesn’t make the halfway cut.
LIV Golf events have a shotgun start, as against a staggered one on other tours, and there’s an individual as well as team champion for every tournament.