A DP World Tour pro defied staggering odds to make not one, but two holes-in-one during the same round. And that was just the beginning of what will go down as one of the wildest days in pro golf history.
Dale Whitnell aced the second and 12th holes at Durban Country Club during the second round of the Investec South African Open. The winner of the 2023 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed became one of just a handful of pros to pull off the feat statisticians give only a million-to-1 odds of happening (or 67 million-to-1 odds for regular golfers).
Whitnell holed a 7-iron from 169 metres on the second hole. His ace on No.12 was a 50-degree wedge from 117 metres. Have a look at both here:
https://twitter.com/DPWorldTour/status/1895450967140884767
But around those aces were some other wild scores for the 36-year-old Englishman.
Whitnell eagled the third and had seven other birdies, including a closing one to shoot a nine-under-par 63. So why wasn’t it lower? Well, he also mixed in a pair of bogeys and a double-bogey on 16 that ended his chances of shooting a sub-60 score to match what Jake Knapp did on the PGA Tour earlier in the day.
Needless to say, Whitnell was thrilled with shooting himself into contention (he’s five behind 36-hole leader Shaun Norris) for a second career DP World Tour title after an opening 72. And for making a bit of history.
“I got off to a hot start, as they say,” Whitnell, who had never made an ace in tournament play previously, told reporters after his round. “I birdied the first and then hit a flush 7-iron on the second and didn’t realise that it had gone in until down the bottom [greenside] they cheered, so that was lovely.
“I hit 2-hybrid, hybrid into the par 5 and made eagle there, so I was five-under through three, which I have never done before and then managed to get another hole-in-one at the 12th. It was bizarre.”
No arguments here, Dale. Have a look at this crazy scorecard:
https://twitter.com/DPWorldTour/status/1895466707143303644
As you can see, Whitnell had a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on his card on Friday. And, again, two 1s. Insanity.
Dale joined Australia’s Andrew Dodt (2013) and John Hudson (1971) as players to make a pair of aces in the same round on the DP World Tour. Although, the European Tour wasn’t officially formed until 1972, the next year after Hudson’s daily double. It’s happened three times on the PGA Tour: Bill Whedon (1955), Yusako Miyazato (2006) and Brian Harman (2015).
Coming into the week, there had been only five aces on the DP World Tour this season in 10 events. But Whitnell needed only 10 holes to make a pair himself. Here are some other stats and notes around Whitnell’s accomplishment, courtesy of our own Jamie Kennedy’s Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/jamierkennedy/status/1895468803087360265
Oh, and of course, drinks were on Dale afterwards:
https://twitter.com/DPWorldTour/status/1895471490692415777
Congrats, Dale. Although, that’s going to be one tough act to top over the weekend.
