All hole-in-ones are special, but not every ace is created equal. There are various factors at play. Distance, wind and pin position are big ones. Then there’s the course, the tees and, of course, lady luck—a big kick or a fortuitous ricochet counts the same on the scorecard but is worth less in social currency.
None of this was of concern to Raul Pereda at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Thursday, however, where the Mexico-born tour pro holed one of the most immaculate aces you will ever see. Sound the air raid sirens, because this thing is a missile.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨@Raulp96 cards a 1⃣ on the 236-yard par-3 7th @CJByronNelson !
(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/3dt98avO3X
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 2, 2024
TPC Craig Ranch’s gargantuan 236-yard par-3 7th hole isn’t a pitch n’ putt cupcake with a feeder pin hoovering up Joe Schmo’s Kirkland. This is a full-grown beast and Pereda put it on a leash and told it to sit with one perfect swing. When all is said and done, Pereda’s ace will go down as one of the shots of the year, rivalled partly by his other mind-boggling eagle, which he logged at the Mexico Open back in February.
¡Águila desde 249 yardas! 🤯
El año pasado en el @MexicoOpenGolf, y su debut en el TOUR, @RaulP96 se llevó un recuerdo para toda la vida.#TOURVault pic.twitter.com/KUzg3Yd2Cd
— PGATOUResp (@pgatouresp) February 20, 2024
What can we say? The man loves a hole-out. Pereda’s hole-in-one was more than just for show, though. The shot moved the 940th-ranked player in the world to two-under and into a tie for 8th place. With just 10 events played, three cuts made and under $50,000 in career earnings on the PGA Tour, another couple of shots like this wouldn’t just move Pereda up the leaderboard, they would change his life.







