On Thursday, Rory McIlroy got the blood pumping at TPC River Highlands when he notched his first-career hole-in-one (hard to believe!) on the 214-yard par-3 8th hole, helping to make up for the disappointment of yet another runner-up finish at a major.

ACE FOR RORY!@McIlroyRory holes it from 214 yards @TravelersChamp ? pic.twitter.com/bKUfts2RvU

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2023

It was an incredible milestone for McIlroy, who had played 3,253 par 3s in his PGA Tour career without logging an ace. So how did the North Irishman celebrate his potentially once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment? By throwing the ball to a fan and moving on with his life, that’s how.

What did Rory do with the ball he made his first career PGA Tour ace with?

Threw it away. ? pic.twitter.com/zXjtBkE1Qe

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 22, 2023

“I threw it away … “ McIlroy told reporters when asked about his plans for the TaylorMade tour ball. “I’m not sentimental, I don’t care.”

Geez. Even if you’re the most cold-hearted, stone-faced guy on earth, we feel like you would think twice about tossing your benchmark ball to a random in the gallery, but not McIlroy. That said, with four major trophies and three FedEX Cups to his name, perhaps there’s just no more room on his mantle.

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Rory McIlroy was understandably disappointed to not claim a fifth major championship on Sunday at the US Open. In the meantime, he’ll have to settle for accomplishing a career-first on Thursday at the Travelers Championship.

In a stat that will certainly stun golf fans everywhere — this golf writer included — the former World No. 1 had never made a hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. In 232 starts. Just an insane fact.

But that all changed with one 5-iron swing on the 214-yard, par-3 eighth hole at TPC River Highlands during the first round. Have a look:

ACE FOR RORY!@McIlroyRory holes it from 214 yards @TravelersChamp ? pic.twitter.com/bKUfts2RvU

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2023

What an absolute laser. Congrats, Rory. But again, it’s wild that he’d never made one on the PGA Tour before. Heck, less than a week ago he just missed one at LACC!

Anyway, McIlroy does have one career ace as a pro, which came at the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the DP World Tour. And now, on his 3,253rd par 3 of his PGA Tour career, he’s (finally) got another. What a crazy game.

“I’m not sentimental,” McIlroy said after. “I don’t care. I’d rather have trophies than golf balls.”

OK maybe so, but we’re guessing he’ll treat himself to a couple celebratory beverages on Thursday night.

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Adam Scott admitted to listening to LIV Golf’s overtures in February of 2022, telling the media at Riviera ahead of the Genesis Invitational: “I think the schedule they’re proposing is very appealing to probably most golfers. Depending what your goals are in golf, I think the schedule is very appealing. From that side of things, I would consider doing that, for sure. From a lifestyle side of things, yes.”

But Scott never went to the circuit, instead taking a leadership role on the tour’s Player Advisory Council in hopes of changing professional golf for the better.

So it’s fair to wonder how the Aussie is feeling following the surprise announcement that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s backer, the Public Investment Fund, are planning to form a new entity together. Speaking to the media ahead of this week’s Travelers Championship, the former Masters champ calmly spoke about the “emotional” response some players had to the news.

“I think as far as the deal goes, I’m happy to wait and see how the deal points are worked out and see whether that really suits as a whole,” Scott explained. “Of course I have some emotional — I’m caught up emotionally because I stayed on the PGA Tour and this looks, it was put to us that if we left we were never coming back, and it seems there is going to be pathways back. You know, eventually we’ll find out if that’s the best for the game and how we feel. So I have some emotions about that, but kind of time often plays a big part in these things so see how it advances.”

Scott clarified he never felt “angry” about the proposed deal, although did say last week’s US Open felt like a respite of sorts from the drama.

“Even though we were all there and the same players are there, it wasn’t a PGA Tour event. It was run by the USGA and felt like a break,” Scott said. “We’re straight back into it with player meetings here this week. I think that’s like what I said before, just when you’re very surprised, some emotions are stirred up, and I think you can’t help but feel — you can’t help but feel left in the dark even though I don’t expect to run the PGA Tour and them to run everything by me. It was just sooner than maybe anybody thought. That’s all.”

Scott did say that Tuesday’s players’ meeting with PGA Tour officials went better than a similar meeting at the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago, although there are a lot of questions that currently don’t have answers. To Scott, those answers will come in time.

“So although that seems fairly simple, I think the deal sounds quite complex and this could take a long time,” Scott said. “I think hopefully everyone is cooling down and as things go along, there is transparency to the players and those questions get answered.

“And then, you know, I think it will be evaluated whether it’s a good deal for the PGA Tour and its players and the game of golf moving forward.”

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