SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA (AP) – On the famed par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, there was an ace for the second day in a row.
Ortiz, who was playing the back nine first, came to the tee box just before lunchtime on Sunday, sized up the green with a pin only six paces off the back edge, and hit a 9-iron from 178 yards.
The ball landed about 10 feet short of the hole, sprang forward, rolled up close, and dove in from the side.
It had been seven years since the coliseum had seen an ace. In 2015, Francesco Molinari made the tournament’s ninth hole-in-one, before Sam Ryder made the venue erupt with his Saturday afternoon ace.
Yes, another beer-can shower resulted, in case you were wondering. Cleaning up on aisle 16 is a must!
ANOTHER ACE 😱@CarlosOrtizGolf drains it at 16. pic.twitter.com/GfcPxi3yd3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 13, 2022
It’s now the hole’s 11th ace. Following the 2020 American Express Championship and the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship, it was his third career PGA Tour ace.
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker hit aces on the same hole in the same year in 1997, when they were both 16 years old.
At 17, Ortiz followed up the ace with an eagle 2, becoming the first player this season to have back-to-back eagles.
