[PHOTO: Getty Images (inset: Jesse Linden/Instagram)]
At an Oregon golf club heavily connected to Tiger Woods, Australian star junior Jesse Linden catapulted himself into the lead at an American Junior Golf Association tournament courtesy of a dramatic hole in one captured in stunning phone footage by his father in the gallery.
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Linden, a rising star in international junior golf, was the first Australian to play in the Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National on the Sunday before the 2024 Masters.
Linden, 14, led the Adidas Junior All-Star, an AJGA event, by three shots heading into the final round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. The Portland-area club shot to fame when Woods won the 1996 US Amateur at its Witch Hollow course shortly before turning pro.
Over at the club’s Ghost Creek course, Linden on Wednesday made an ace at the 183-metre, par-3 14th. The Hunter Valley junior was one-over-par having made a birdie and two consecutive bogeys before reaching the 14th.
Linden used a 5-iron and shaped an elegant fade into a right pin. It took several bounces before rolling into the hole. Check out the incredible footage below.
“It has to be up there as the coolest thing I have ever done,” Linden told Australian Golf Digest via a text from his father, Clint. “Doing it on a course where Tiger won the US Am makes it even cooler. He inspired all sorts of golfers including me.”
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Linden impressively birdied the next two holes after the ace. Only a double-bogey, bogey finish brought him back to an even-par round of 71 at the 54-hole event.
Linden sat four-under going into the final round, three shots ahead of second place. If you can believe it, his nearest chaser was a Canada-based, Chinese junior golfer named Tiger Yuanjun Liu.
Watch the hole in one here.
