Japan’s Hideto Tanihara has won the March European Tour Shot of the Month after his hole-in-one at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Golf Club in Texas.
Many thought that when Tanihara lost out to Dustin Johnson in the semifinal of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, his chances to make headlines on Sunday might have been over. Many were wrong.
On the seventh hole of his consolation match against Bill Haas, the 38-year-old took dead aim with an eight iron from 207 yards and hit of the shots of the year. His ball narrowly carried the bunker, ran out to the back right pin position and dropped into the hole.
“The crowd went wild” Tanihara said. “And when everybody is happy, you tend to get happy, too. So it was a great feeling. You can’t always make a hole-in-one. You try but you usually miss. Sometimes you just get lucky and it went in. I’m just really happy that it did.”
MyEuropeanTour fans voted Tanihara’s shot as March’s Shot of the Month, narrowly edging out competition from Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Andy Sullivan and Duncan Stewart. The Japanese veteran earned more than one in three of the fan votes.