Golf: Australia’s Andrew Martin sinks record-equalling four eagles in single round
Four eagles in a single round, including three in a row to clinch Players Series Sydney
Dubai: Australian Andrew Martin sank a world record-equalling four eagles in a single round, including three in a row, to clinch the Players Series Sydney on Sunday.
The 36-year-old was eight off the pace when he started the day at the PGA Tour of Australasia event at Bonnie Doon Golf Club.
But an amazing front nine that featured four eagles, a birdie and a bogey drew him within striking distance of overnight leader Charlie Dann.
Three bogeys in succession by Dann after the turn saw Martin edge clear and he sealed the win when he completed a 10-under 61 with a birdie at the 18th.
His four eagles saw him join only a handful of others, including Willie Wood (1990), Scott McCarron (1995), Mikko Ilonen (2003) and Li Haotong (2019) to achieve the feat in a single round on a major tour, the PGA Tour of Australia said.
Three of the eagles came in succession from the seventh hole, matching the effort of Finland’s Toni Hakula at the Abierto de Chile in 2019, the only other player to do so in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
“It’s still a bit of a whirlwind,” Martin said. “To shoot 10-under, that’s still hard to get through my head.
“I just wanted to shoot a good score, to be honest. Try and jump up the leaderboard and four eagles obviously helped that.”
His charge began when he holed a pitching wedge for eagle on the par-4 third and backed it up with a birdie at the par-4 fourth.
A bogey at the par-3 sixth was the only misstep and was followed by a stretch of golf rarely seen anywhere.
Two good shots into the par-5 seventh set up an eagle from pin-high. He then chipped in from the front edge at the par-4 eighth and picked up his sixth shot in the space of three holes when he chipped in at the par-5 ninth.