After Charlie Woods sent shockwaves around the golf world by making a hole-in-one, Paddy Harrington matched it with an ace of his own.
The younger Harrington made his ace on the par-3 8th, which measured 214 yards on Sunday. It came minutes after Charlie holed his on the par-3 4th, thus turning the PNC Championship into a hole-in-one fest.
“I’ve never been so excited in my life,” Paddy’s father Padraig said.
“It was a great shot, which is nice. I know my first hole-in-one wasn’t a spectacularly good shot. That was the perfect swing, perfect shot, and when it went in, I’ve never experienced anything like it, the joy of it. Because obviously you can win tournaments and do that, and that’s a different sort of pressure and excitement.”
“That was just pure joy.”
Funny enough, the Harrington’s played alongside Mark O’Meara and his son Sean, who last recorded an ace at the PNC Championship in 2014.
“I couldn’t believe it. Because we see it happen a lot. You hear the noise, and you’re watching the crowds go berserk, and you go berserk,” Padraig added.
“To be honest it was a really nice pairing, the O’Mearas. Everybody enjoyed it. I don’t think it could have been a better golfing moment. As I said, there was a nice crowd. Everybody was into it, the O’Mearas, the whole thing. It was perfectly timed.”
On the hole before, Paddy and Sean caught wind of Charlie’s hole in one, which led Sean to say to Paddy, “I used to be the only one that had a hole-in-one, and now there’s two.”
Ten minutes after that remark, this tournament had a third, courtesy of Paddy.
“I was too excited. You couldn’t have talked to me. I was gone,” Padraig added.
“This is a great event, and all of it is great. And we try and play well, but that was sheer joy. I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited on a golf course in my life.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
