Graeme McDowell shot his first PGA Tour hole-in-one at the 17th hole on day two of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The Northern Irishman and England’s Matt Wallace sit five shots off the lead on eight under par after a second round of 70 at the team event.
The pair began the day four shots adrift and ended tied ninth, two shots inside the cut mark.
Cameron Champ and Tony Finau signed for a 68 and join Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura in a share of the lead.
The American pair picked up two shots on the front nine and three coming home, while a bogey on the par-four 12th was their only dropped shot.
Norwegians Hovland and Ventura followed their first-round 62 with a 69 in the foursomes, a double bogey on the 16th more than made up for by four birdies in their last nine holes of the day to sit on 13 under.
‘I’ll take that one!’
McDowell’s hole-in-one came at the tough 216-yard par-three 17th, his and Wallace’s eighth hole of the day at TPC Louisiana.
The 2010 US Open champion worked a low draw back into the left-to-right breeze, allowing the ball to land at the front of the green and make its way up to the hole and into the bottom of the cup.
McDowell had not even seen the ball go in as he was getting his tee out of the ground and was taken by surprise as Wallace grabbed him.
“I’d have been very happy with anything dry there, but I’ll take a one!” said McDowell after collecting his ball from the hole.
The second round was a best-ball format, with the lowest 33 teams and ties then progressing to the weekend.
Teams will play alternate shots again for Saturday’s third round, with the fourball-style format returning for the final round.
