Gene Sarazen aces Troon’s “Postage Stamp” at age 71

Gene Sarazen is often associated with one of the luckiest shots in golf, “The Shot Heard Around the World.” It was a desperate shot, that came at the closing stages of the 1935 Masters where Sarazen holed a double-eagle from 235 yards away. This allowed him to tie Craig Wood who was already in the clubhouse thinking he had sealed the tournament. Walter Hagen who was playing with Sarazen that day, yelled over to The Squire thinking he had no chance, “Hurry up, will ya, I’ve got a date tonight.” At the time of his memorable stroke, the winner’s check of $1,500 had already been made out to Wood…

Sarazen was 33 at the time of his amazing double-eagle at Augusta. At age 71, the legend produced another shot for the ages at Royal Troon. Competing for fun, Sarazen aced Troon’s 126‐yard, par‐3 eighth hole during the first round of play.

“The thrilling part about it,” Sarazen said afterward, “is that it was my first in 40 years and this was the first on film. Now when see [the late Bobby] Jones and [the late Walter] Hagen, I can show them. They wouldn’t believe me unless they saw it.”

An hour earlier, David Russell, a British amateur, had an ace at the same hole. It was the first time since the Open began in 1860 that two players had had holes‐in‐one on the same round, officials said. After the turn, however, Sarazen collected a couple of doublebogeys and completed the round in a seven‐over‐par 79. (Not bad for a 71 year old) Gene Sarazen G

ene Sarazen

