“It would’ve ended up going to my dad” - Chase Koepka explains why he threw the ace ball into the fans at LIV Golf Adelaide
Chase Koepka did a hole-in-one on the par 3 12th hole at LIV Golf Adelaide last Sunday and then tossed it into the Grange Golf Club's gallery instead of keeping it to himself as a memory. He later stated that he had no regrets about not keeping the ball for himself.
“It would’ve ended up going to my dad. My dad keeps a bunch of that special stuff. But honestly, in the moment, I felt like the fans deserved that golf ball more than I did," Chase Koepka was quoted via LIV Golf.
The fan who caught the ball asked Koepka to sign it. The Smash GC member said he was happy to sign it.
"Glad he got to have that. He told me he was a member at The Grange, so that’s pretty crazy."
He said in a pre-event conference at the LIV Golf Singapore event that he was not expecting to hit an ace last Sunday and it was 'epic'.
"The crowd was amazing. In fact, I was getting standing ovations on every single tee I went to the rest of the day.
"It was a special moment for me, a special moment for my caddie, and a special moment for the fans in Adelaide. Can’t wait to get back there," Koepka told reporters.
The younger Koepka was hopeful of creating some more magical moments like this at Sentosa Golf Club this week.
While the older sibling, Brooks Koepka has registered a win at LIV Golf League this year, Chase hasn't been that impressive. Prior to his T-24 finish in Adelaide, he finished 47th, 39th, and 46th in Mayakoba, Tucson, and Orlando respectively.
The Smash GC golfer will be looking to better this season's record at the Singapore event, which begins on Friday, April 28. Koepka is currently in T-38 after shooting 1 over on Day 1.
LIV Golf Singapore leaderboard after Day 1
- 1 Talor Gooch: -7
- T2 Sergio Garcia: -6
- T2 Cameron Tringale: -6
- T2 Brooks Koepka: -6
- T2 Cameron Smith: -6
- T6 Bryson DeChambeau: -5
- T6 Louis Oosthuizen: -5
- T6 Phil Mickelson: -5
- T9 Charl Schwartzel: -4
- T9 Jason Kokrak: -4
- T9 Patrick Reed: -4
- T9 Mito Pereira: -4
- T13 Kevin Na: -3
- T13 Danny Lee: -3
- T15 Peter Uihlein: -2
- T15 Charles Howell III: -2
- T15 Marc Leishman: -2
- T15 Dustin Johnson: -2
- T15 Henrik Stenson: -2
- T15 Dean Burmester: -2
- T15 Scott Vincent: -2
- T22 Joaquin Niemann: -1
- T22 Matt Jones: -1
- T22 Richard Bland: -1
- T22 Sihwan Kim: -1
- T22 Branden Grace: -1
- T22 Lee Westwood: -1
- T22 Jediah Morgan: -1
- T22 David Puig: -1
- T22 James Piot: -1
- T22 Laurie Canter: -1
- T22 Bubba Watson: -1
- T22 Thomas Pieters: -1
- T34 Bernd Wiesberger: E
- T34 Eugenio Chacarra: E
- T34 Ian Poulter: E
- T34 Harold Varner III: E
- T38 Chase Koepka: +1
- T38 Martin Kaymer: +1
- T38 Anirban Lahiri: +1
- T38 Abraham Ancer: +1
- T42 Sebastián Muñoz: +2
- T42 Matthew Wolff: +2
- T42 Carlos Ortiz: +2
- T42 Pat Perez: +2
- T46 Graeme McDowell: +3
- T46 Brendan Steele: +3
- 48 Paul Casey: +5