Golf Icon Secures Early Advantage in Thrilling Opening Match!

Chad Ramey's 17th hole lie in the final round of the Players Championship. NBC/Golf Channel Chad Ramey hit a shot in the final round of the Players Championship that you don’t see every day: a 7-iron from 183 yards on the Stadium Course’s par-3 13th that landed softly on the left side of the green, caught a slope and didn’t stop rolling until it had disappeared into the hole. An ace.

Ramey’s first in competition. “I couldn’t get any putts to fall, so to not have to putt, that was nice,” Ramey joked after signing for a one-under 71 that moved him to three under for the week and likely with a top-30 finish in what is his fourth Players appearance. Amazingly, though, the 1 wasn’t Ramey’s most unusual shot of the day.

That came on another par-3 — the island-green 17th — where Ramey’s tee shot rolled through the back of the green and clung to the strip of rough that separates the putting surface from the wood plank that rings the green. But his ball didn’t cling for long. A moment or two after it came to rest in the rough, it dislodged itself and dropped down to the plank.

The ball seemed destined for the water, but instead of bounding forward, it spun backward and stopped hard against the turf line, leaving Ramey with a chip shot you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Ramey has a history at 17 . In the second round of the 2023 Players, he arrived on this hole with the lead.