Elizabeth Szokol carded a 3-under 69 on Moving Day at Liberty National Golf Club to vault from T19 to T10 at the Mizuho Americas Open. But her final score doesn’t tell the story of the wild Saturday she had on the golf course in Jersey City, N.J.

Szokol began the third round at 4-under total, having carded scores of 69 and 71 on days one and two in the Garden State, and made a birdie on the par-3 2nd hole to quickly move to 5-under. She erased that effort with a bogey on No. 3 and bogeyed again on the par-4 5th hole, but Szokol cleaned up that mistake with a birdie on six. The 30-year-old then went birdie-bogey on the par-5 8th and par-4 9th holes to close out her opening nine and turn at even par for the round, still at 4-under overall.

But Szokol’s inward nine was where things really got interesting.

She birdied the par-3 11th hole to get back to 5-under for the tournament, and Szokol then made an unfortunate double bogey on the par-5 13th hole, a mistake that dropped her to 3-under for the tournament with five holes remaining. For many athletes, that kind of late slip-up would have compounded into at least a couple more costly missteps coming down the stretch. But Szokol shrugged it off and headed to the par-3 14th hole, hoping to pick up at least one or two more late birdies to recover from her mistake on 13.

And that patience with herself ultimately paid off as Szokol made a hole-in-one on what’s considered to be the signature par 3 at Liberty National Golf Club from 131 yards with her 9-iron to record her second career ace on the LPGA Tour and first since she holed out on the par-3 2nd hole in the third round of the 2019 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.

“It was pretty great,” said a smiling Szokol after her third round. “I hit a little 9-iron. It was into the wind, and the wind was off the left. Started a little bit further left than I thought, but the wind hit it, got a great kick and went in. Probably one of the coolest holes to have a hole-in-one on with the views of New York City. I had a double on the hole before, so it was pretty special.

“I was able to see it go in. It was kind of tracking, which was great, and there were some people up there, so that confirmed that it went in. The whole group was really excited, so it was awesome.”

After that thrilling moment, Szokol went on to birdie the par-4 16th and 17th holes, ultimately parring 18 to post a 69 and climb to 7-under for the tournament, moving the LPGA Tour winner into a share of 10th with 18 holes to play at the Mizuho Americas Open. This is just her sixth event of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and outside of the T14 that she posted at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Szokol’s other performances haven’t been too noteworthy thus far this year, something she has now given herself the opportunity to change on Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club as she works to make up a seven-stroke deficit that separates her and 54-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul.

“I feel like I played good golf and tried to stay patient,” Szokol said. “It was very windy, so I knew some bogeys were going to happen. Some of them happened from good shots, so I didn't let myself get too frustrated. I kept hitting good shots, and some putts fell, and had some good shots like the one on 14. Overall, pretty solid day, so excited for tomorrow.”

Szokol’s ace will see a $20,000 donation made by CME Group to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. The campaign helps raise money to support childhood cancer treatment and research efforts that are being made by St. Jude, with a guaranteed minimum donation of $500,000 guaranteed to go to the facility at the conclusion of 2025, no matter how many holes-in-one are made throughout the year.

Szokol’s hole-in-one raises the current donation total to $80,000, as it’s the fourth ace to be made in an LPGA Tour event this season, and she was jazzed about having the opportunity to contribute financially to such an important cause, something that made her incredible moment on Saturday at the Mizuho Americas Open that much sweeter for the 30-year-old.

“That's definitely the best part of it,” Szokol said. “So glad to help contribute to that, that that money goes to St. Jude and does some great things, so that's the best part of it, absolutely.”

Ace Vaults Elizabeth Szokol Into Top 10 at Mizuho Americas Open

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