Jamie Donaldson ensured he’d have a Masters debut to remember when he hit a hole-in-one.
The Macclesfield golfer became only the fifth person in history to pull off the feat at the par-three sixth when he fired the ball straight at the pin and watched in delight as it found its way in.
“It’s a tough shot, but my caddie said:?‘Listen, you just go straight at it when it’s up there’ and that’s what I did,” said Donaldson. “And it was great to see the ball pitch right on line, just short, and it went in. It was pretty special.
“You’re staring down that hole and the green is like there’s dead elephants buried everywhere. The pin is in the hardest pin placement so you just have to take the shot on, I went straight at it and the shot came off exactly as I wanted it to and it went in.
“It was just like ‘wow’.”
Donaldson then shared high fives with playing partners Mark O’Meara and Martin Laird on the tee before retrieving the ball from the hole and acknowledging the Augusta crowd.
The ace was the highlight of Donaldson’s round as he played steadily to card a 74.
Bogeys on the first, 10th and 18th holes, allied to a double bogey on 12, were tempered by his eagle and a birdie on the par-five 13th.
On day two, a couple of bogeys and two double-bogeys saw the Irish?Open champion card 75, missing out on the cut by a single shot.
