Matt Kuchar made a hole in one, then, very possibly, a fan for life.
The former came Friday afternoon on the 163-yard, par-3 5th hole at Detroit Golf Club. Struck by a 9-iron, Kuchar’s ball touched down about 30 feet short of the hole, bounced a few times and rolled before curling over the cup’s right side on its last rotation. Kuchar hadn’t seen the result, though. He’d grabbed his peg and was walking off the tee box when he learned what had happened during the Rocket Classic’s second round.
“If I hit a full 9-iron and put a little draw on it, which came out perfectly, I thought it would be a good shot,” he said. “It was tracking very nicely and it looked like the ball stopped from my perspective. It was hard to tell a little bit of the depth. It looked like it stopped and then some of the volunteers up by the camera tower, I guess, clapped and cheered really loudly as it disappeared. I had stopped watching, was grabbing the tee out of the ground, and, sure enough, hear the big kind of roar from the guys behind the green.
“Looked up and there was no more golf ball, so that was a great feeling.”
A short while later, Casimer Daniewski likely felt the same.
The 7-year-old and his parents were stationed to the left of the hole when Kuchar motioned for the boy to join him on his walk to the green.
“I said, ‘Hey, buddy, come with me,’” Kuchar said.
Daniewski did. They walked to the hole, and with Kuchar bent over it, Daniewski retrieved the ball. He handed it back to Kuchar, who then signed it for him.
Said analyst Arron Oberholser on the Golf Channel broadcast: “That’s fantastic. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. No, I definitely haven’t seen it. That is awesome. Good on Kuch.”
Said announcer George Savaricas: “Memory will last a lifetime. Gets the autograph and gets the hole in one ball.”
Of Kuchar’s seven PGA Tour holes in one, had he ever asked a fan to walk with him?
“First time I ever had somebody come inside the ropes,” Kuchar said. “It was fun for me, just anytime you get a chance to make a kid’s day like that. And I figured the group would be pretty understanding of that sort of kid joining me up on the green.”
Why’d he do it?
“I saw a little boy that was kind of the right age where you know they’re so excited to be out here, just very impressionable,” Kuchar said. “One of those things where it’s easy to make their day. I think anytime you get to make a kid’s day, it makes your day. …
“He was a sweetheart of a little boy and he was pretty excited to get the golf ball. Certainly was something fun for me to be able to do as well to see him so excited.”
From there, Daniewski came back to his parents on the rope line, and reporters saw the family following Kuchar’s group. Tony Paul of the Detroit News — whose complete story can be read here — talked with the Daniewskis and wrote that Kuchar later added some additional hole-in-one detail on the ball and posed for pictures.
“We told him, ‘You’re never going to have a sporting experience like this ever again,’” Daniewski’s dad, also named Casimer Daniewski, told the Detroit News.
After Kuchar’s round, a reporter told the 26-year pro that the younger Daniewski “was living and breathing with every putt” that Kuchar was hitting for the rest of the round.
“Yeah, that’s cool,” Kuchar said.
“I’m guessing he’ll be a fan of the game of golf and hopefully a fan of Matt Kuchar’s for a while.”