Ha Na Jang Made Historic Albatross

Ha Na Jang needed some help from the gallery, most notably her father and coach, to realize that she had holed one of rarest shots in golf. Jang’s hole-in-one on a par 4 last Saturday at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic was the first in LPGA history and among a handful of 1s on a par 4 in professional golf history.

“Looks like just tap-in eagle, but I don’t see ball finish but I see my dad,” said Jang. “He say, ‘Oh, you inside the hole.’ ”

The par-4 eighth hole at the Ocean Club Golf Course is a dogleg left around the water and beach and normally plays to 310 yards. However, to tempt golfers to drive the green during the third round, the hole was shortened to 218 yards. Jang, paired with Kelly Shon, chose a 3-wood. The ball landed in front of the green, bounded up on the slightly elevated putting surface and smoothly rolled into hole, which was set on the front left.

Jang bent down and kissed the green as she approached the hole. She went on to finish T11. On the same day, completing his third round at the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla, Calif., Jason Gore holed a 3-wood second shot on the par-5 finishing hole for a 2.

Jang’s 1 was the 36th double eagle in LPGA history and the first since Lexi Thompson made her second shot of the final round on the par-5 second hole at the 2014 Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Thompson shares a spot in this category with older brother Nicholas, who became the only player to make a double eagle and eagle in the same round on the PGA Tour (since record-keeping began in 1983) at the 2009 Frys.com Open.

Jang is accustomed to precise long-range accuracy. At a Vietnam tournament on the Korean LPGA in 2012, she made a double eagle on a par 5 – from 216 yards away with a 6-hybrid. She has recorded six career aces on par 3s – two during competition on the KLPGA and four last year in practice rounds or pro-ams during her rookie season on the LPGA.

The first albatross on a par 4 was scored by Japan’s Tommy Nakajima at the May 1978 The Crowns on the Japan Golf Tour when he aced the 341-yard first hole in the second round.

Andrew Magee scored the first ace on the PGA Tour at the 2001 Phoenix Open in a most bizarre fashion. Magee hit driver on the 332-yard 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale in the first round and the group ahead was still on the green. The ball bounced onto the green, past Steve Pate and Gary Nicklaus and then ricocheted off the putter face of Tom Byrum directly into the hole for an ace.

There have also been unusual prizes for the par-4 aces. Richard Johnson won a pallet of beer from New Zealand tournament sponsor Heineken, or 1,500 bottles, which were shipped to Johnson’s home in Fort Smith, Ark., for his 2009 Web.com accomplishment. When Chile’s Guillermo Encina made a 1 on the 354-yard hole of a Tunisian European Seniors Tour event in 2003, he won 354 bottles of wine; alas, he did not drink alcohol.

Here’s a look at the known par-4 aces around the golf world (note that none of these players won the tournament):