Jonathan Thomson recreated golf history with a wonderful hole-in-one on Friday. The 25-year-old from Sheffield, who is 6-foot-9, hit his face on the 16 of 162-yard par three, the ball rolling after throwing on the green. Bank.
It was at this very spot in 1967 that Tony Jacklin made the first hole in a televised one, at the Dunlop Masters event. At 6 feet 9 inches tall, Jonathan Thomson should be able to do a basketball dive. But this Englishman is a golfer and his tee shot on the 162-yard, par-3 16th hole at the Royal St. George in Sandwich, England, was nothing more than net.
The ace jumped him inside the cutoff line and helped him hit a 67 of 3 under par in the second round on Friday for a total of 36 holes of 138 under par.
Jonathan Thomson Age
Jonathan Thomson is 25 years old.
Jonathan Thomson, a 6-foot-9-inch leukemia survivor, immerses himself in the Royal St. George’s
At 6 feet 9 inches tall, Jonathan Thomson should be able to do a basketball dive. But this Englishman is a golfer and his tee shot on the 162-yard, par-3 16th hole at the Royal St. George in Sandwich, England, was nothing more than net.
The ace jumped him inside the cutoff line and helped him hit a 67 of 3 under par in the second round on Friday for a total of 36 holes of 138 under par.
“You dream of playing in the Open when you were a kid and then you come here, you make a hole in one and you make the cut, and it’s like, wow,” said Thomson, who raised his arms to the sky in celebration.
When asked to recount the glorious shot, he said, “The roar, the shot, everything about that hole, is truly indescribable. It was a kind of reinforcement because I was working too, to be fair. It was not easy. I was playing well. It seems like I couldn’t make anything go right. So that happened and it was like, you know, that’s just amazing. ”
Last to hit a hole in one at 16 in a British Open at Royal St. George’s? None other than Tom Watson in 2011. Englishman Tony Jacklin, former US, and British Open champion made the first hole in one shown on live television on the same hole at the 1967 Dunlop Masters.
Thomson, 25, of Sheffield, England, is making his major championship debut after finishing second to New Zealander Daniel Hillier in the 36-hole Final Standings at Hollinwell, where he is the adjunct professional.
Thomson first chose a club at the age of five at Rotherham Golf Club, where he practiced alongside future Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett. Thomson has the height for basketball or to be a lineman in soccer, but he was diagnosed with leukemia when he was seven and he had to quit impact sports. After recovering from the disease at age 12, he grew to become the tallest player in European Tour history in 2018 and is currently ranked 889th in the world while competing on the European Tour Challenge Tour. So far, he has handled his big opportunity well.
“We have done a good job of taking control of this is just another golf tournament,” he said. “Obviously, it’s important, but we’ve done a good job managing that so far, and that’s definitely one of the goals going forward, staying on top of it.”