Chris Paisley
England’s Chris Paisley won $150,000 for bagging a hole-in-one in the second round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters – but said he wouldn’t be in control of how to spend it.
The Englishman holed out with a nine-iron from 135 yards at the par-three 17th yesterday to win $150,000 from Qatar Duty Free, the tournament’s Hole-in-One Sponsor, and thought his wife would be deciding how best to put the money to use.
“I don’t think it’s going to be me that's spending it. My wife’s here this week, so I think she'll probably take care of that,” joked Paisley, whose best finishes on the European Tour are a tie for third at last year’s Italian Open and third at the 2015 BMW International in Germany.
"This is my first hole-in-one on the European Tour. I think that's five in total in my life, but this is definitely the most memorable.”
Paisley had opened with a two-over 74 on Thursday and after a bogey on hole three on Friday morning, he went on to make the turn at three-over and looked likely to miss the cut.
However, his fortunes changed on the back nine as he birdied 10, 11 and 16 before approaching the short 17th.
“I was kind of in between a wedge and a nine-iron, and decided to go with a little nine-iron. I just hit it perfectly and when it landed, I said, ‘go in’, and it did, so I’m just delighted,” said Paisley, who also birdied 18 for a tournament-changing 67.
“It was a great feeling, but strange, as I went 27 holes this week without making a birdie and was three-over-par, struggling to make the cut. All of a sudden I made a couple of birdies and had a hole-in-one and I was inside the cut mark. I suppose it shows you – never give up!”
