Ryan Fox appeared distraught. He had bogeyed TPC Sawgrass’ 14th hole, then the 15th, where he quickly handed his putter to his caddie. As his colleagues were going low during the Players Championship first round, he was going in reverse.
But no one has achieved what Fox performed over the next two holes. Ever.
On the 515-yard, par-5 16th — his seventh hole of the day after starting on the back nine — Fox eagled. He played the hole this way: tee shot to the right side of the fairway; iron to 2 feet, 4 inches; and one putt.
Fox then played the next hole like this:
Iron into the hole.
He aced the famed, island-green 17th, covering the par-3 that was playing 124 yards on Thursday in one swing. He swung. He watched. His ball dropped about 8 feet past the hole and just to the right of it. It worked his way down the slope. It fell into the left side of the cup. The crowd roared. “Perfection,” analyst Craig Perks said on the PGA Tour Live broadcast.
Back on the tee, Fox raised his arms. He high-fived his caddie. He high-fived his playing partners, Kevin Streelman and C.T. Pan. He high-fived their caddies. A three and then a one. Back-to-back eagles.
It also sent folks digging. Had anyone ever gone eagle-eagle during the Players Championship?
They hadn’t, according to PGA Tour communications, at least not on records dating back to 1983. (Notably, the Players started play at Sawgrass in 1982.) Fox also became the 14th player to make a hole in one on the 17th during tournament play, joining Brad Fabel (1986), Brian Claar (1991), Fred Couples (1997), Joey Sindelar (1999), Paul Azinger (2000), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2002), Willy Wilcox (2016), Sergio Garcia (2017), Ryan Moore (2019), Shane Lowry (2022), Hayden Buckley (2023), Aaron Rai (2023) and Alex Smalley (2023).
From the 17th, Fox’s funky round continued.
He bogeyed the 18th.
Ryan Fox’s 14th to 18th holes during the Players Championship first round
14th, 492-yard par-4
Shot 1: 310 yards to the right rough, 194 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 146 yards to the right rough, 49 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 56 yards to the left side of the fairway, 20 feet, 0 inches to the hole
Shot 4: 19 feet, 0 inches to the green, 2 feet, 2 inches to the hole
Shot 5: In the hole
15th, 455-yard par-4
Shot 1: 291 yards to the right fairway bunker, 155 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 154 yards to the left greenside bunker, 25 feet, 6 inches to the hole
Shot 3: 43 feet, 11 inches to green, 18 feet, 7 inches to the hole
Shot 4: Putt 22 feet, 0 inches, 3 feet, 0 inches to the hole
Shot 5: In the hole
16th, 516-yard par-5
Shot 1: 329 yards to the right side of the fairway, 181 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 180 yards to the green, 2 feet, 4 inches to the hole
Shot 3: In the hole
17th, 124-yard par-3
Shot 1: In the hole
18th, 466-yard par-4
Shot 1: 299 yards to the tree outline, 191 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 156 yards to the left side of the fairway, 36 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 34 yards to the green, 7 feet, 8 inches to the hole
Shot 4: Putt 9 feet, 4 inches, 16 inches to the hole
Shot 5: In the hole