How many holes-in-one have there been at The Players? Every golfer who’s made an ace at TPC Sawgrass
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The Players Championship hole-in-one board is where the world’s best aspire to have their name engraved. (After the trophy, of course…)
Before we get to those who have made a Players Championship hole-in-one, let’s start with a bit of pre-tournament fun.
Ahead of the 2025 tournament, debutant Alejandro Tosti made a one during his practice round at TPC Sawgrass – and had the celebration to match.
Then it was the turn of Collin Morikawa’s caddie, JJ Jakovac, who not only aced the 17th but also made a tiny slice of Players Championship history in the process:
As for the real thing, let’s dive in…
Who has had a Players Championship hole-in-one?
Keegan Bradley became the latest player to have a Players Championship hole-in-one when he aced his tee shot at the 181-yard 13th during the final round of the 2025 tournament.
The Ryder Cup captain became the 39th player to have a hole-in-one during the PGA Tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.
As for the first Players Championship hole-in-one at TPC Sawgrass – that remains a mystery. The story goes that, during the 1986 tournament, Jim Gallagher and Brad Fabel, who were playing the 3rd and 17th holes respectively, both recorded aces within minutes of each other, but officials have never been able to determine which one came first.
One thing’s for sure, Fabel has the first on the famous island green, a hole which grabs the headlines and the one where every golfer wants to achieve a hole-in-one.
The four par-3 holes – the 177-yard 3rd, the 237-yard 8th, the 181-yard 13th, and the 137-yard 17th – have all had their fair share of ‘1s’ marked on the card down the years.
Making an ace in The Players doesn’t earn you any money, what it will do is help you jump up the leaderboard at an event with the biggest purse on the PGA Tour.
Let’s run through the 39 players who’ve achieved the dream at TPC Sawgrass…
Who has made a hole-in-one on the 3rd at Sawgrass?
- Jim Gallagher (1986)
- Russ Cochran (1994)
- Chris DiMarco (2001)
- Seamus Power (2019)
Who has made a hole-in-one on the 8th at Sawgrass?
- Gary Hallberg (1994)
- Mark Brooks (1997)
- Bob Friend (1999)
- Naomichi Ozaki (2000)
- Ted Tryba (2000)
- Michael Thompson (2013)
- Brendon Todd (2021)
- Viktor Hovland (2022)
Who has made a hole-in-one on the 13th at Sawgrass?
- Chip Beck (1992)
- Phil Mickelson (1995)
- Jay Don Blake (1996)
- Craig Stadler (2002)
- Jose Maria Olazabal (2004)
- Justin Leonard (2006)
- Jesper Parnevik (2006)
- Henrik Stenson (2006)
- Fred Couples (2006)
- Robert Garrigus (2008)
- Chris Stroud (2013)
- Sungjae Im (2019)
- Keegan Bradley (2025)
Who has made a hole-in-one on the 17th at Sawgrass?
- Brad Fabel (1986)
- Brian Claar (1991)
- Fred Couples (1997)
- Joey Sindelar (1999)
- Paul Azinger (2000)
- Miguel Angel Jimenez (2002)
- Willy Wilcox (2016)
- Sergio Garcia (2017)
- Ryan Moore (2019)
- Shane Lowry (2022)
- Hayden Buckley (2023)
- Aaron Rai (2023)
- Alex Smalley (2023)
- Ryan Fox (2024)
And the ace that wasn’t…
In 1999 Fred Couples holed out from the tee on the 17th to become the first man in The Players to do so on two separate occasions.
But, unfortunately for the former World No.1 and Masters champion, he couldn’t mark a ‘1’ on his card because it was his second ball.
The smooth-swinging American had found the water with his first attempt and decided to hit again from the tee. An impressive par none-the-less and a great story for the grandkids.
Justin Lower did something similar in 2025, though his third shot was played from the drop zone rather than the tee box.
Still, brilliant par.
Fun fact!
At the risk of making this a bit like the Masters Par-3 Contest curse, no one has ever made and ace at The Players and gone on to win the tournament in the same year.
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Ryan Fox celebrates his historic hole-in-one on the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass in the 2024 Players Championship.
