Ernie continued his ‘ace’ run at the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach by recording his third hole-in-one in the space of six weeks. It was the 19th hole-in-one of his career.
“That’s very unusual,” he said afterwards. “Normally, you make a hole-in-one every three years. I’ve made one every two, three weeks, so it’s ridiculous. I should go to the casino, because maybe there’s a bit of luck involved.”
Ernie went on to record back-to-back 70s to finish third at Pebble and climb to second on the Charles Schwab Cup Money List.
Ernie made his 17th career hole-in-one on the penultimate hole of his first round at the Ally Challenge in August. “I’d been getting a little frustrated up to that point,” he recalled. “I’d not been making birdies and this was a hole where really you’re just looking to make par. Vijay hit a beautiful 6-iron to about three feet and I went with 6-iron, too. Hit a sweet shot there and it came out dead at the flag. My caddie Ricci said ‘nice golf swing’ and before you know it, the ball is in the hole. The beers were on me Sunday night!”
A couple of weeks later, the beers were on Ernie again at the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge, when he made his 18th career hole-in-one.
