Si Woo Kim smashes record breaking hole-in-one at The Open before angry Shane Lowry has to use driver on same hole due to terrible weather
Si Woo Kim made major history on day three of The Open when he hit the longest hole-in-one since records began.
Incredibly, the South Korean star didn't even see it go in, meaning once he realised his reaction was priceless.
Royal Troon's 17th hole is known as one of the tougher par threes around, and during the two previous rounds, Kim recorded a bogey and a double bogey on the same hole.
However, he got his revenge perfectly on Saturday as he stepped up with a three-iron and drilled the ball perfectly onto the green.
That would have been a good enough shot in itself, but the ball just kept going and rolled all the way into the hole, sparking a huge ovation from the crowd.
Kim had already turned away and was walking towards his caddie when he heard the crowd's reaction and realised he hit a hole-in-one on the 238-yard penultimate hole.
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This is now the longest hole-in-one in The Open's history.
The previous best was the 212-yard ace Frank Lickliter II made at the fifth hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2001.
Speaking after the end of the round, he said: "My caddie told me 'You'd better hit hard with a three-iron' so I did and as soon as I made good contact I see the ball over the fringe (thinking) 'That must be maybe inside 20 feet.'
"Then people are yelling at me as I didn't realise the ball went in. It was amazing. I had plenty of holes-in-one in my life, maybe over 10 times, but I think this is the most memorable hole-in-one because it's a major and The Open and I was having a hard time on the front nine.
"I was feeling terrible about my shots [at the hole] the last couple of days. I made double Thursday and I made three-putt again yesterday: finally I got the hole-in-one, so I think I like it now."
Unfortunately, Kim is well off the lead at five over, and while he experienced great joy on the 17th hole, Shane Lowry didn't.
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The Irishman was leading proceedings but endured a horrible third round to throw away the lead heading into the last day.
And on the 17th, things got worse.
Due to terrible weather, Lowry had to abandon the three-iron and use a driver because the wind was that strong, making things very challenging.
After he hit his shot, the 2023 Ryder Cup star smashed the tee box in frustration as he recorded a bogey, one of five across the back nine.
He is now three shots off the lead and made his feelings perfectly known.
Speaking to the press, he said: "It was hard.
“Playing a par 3 hitting drivers is not much craic. Roll the ball back, huh?”
"I don’t really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun."
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Lowry will now need to pull off an outstanding come back to stand any chance of repeating his 2019 success.
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