Michael Phelps Hits Hole-in-One During Golf Outing
Ever since the latter portion of his swimming career, Michael Phelps has frequently enjoyed playing golf, and he has appeared in numerous pro-am tournaments over the last decade. In 2012, Phelps actually recorded a 159-foot putt, one of the longest ever shown on television, at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. This week, Phelps managed to hit a rare hole-in-one while playing near his home in Arizona.
Phelps and his wife, Nicole Johnson Phelps, were playing a round of golf Tuesday while celebrating Nicole’s birthday when Phelps hit the miracle shot. In a now-erased video that both posted to their Instagram stories, an extremely excited Nicole drove up to the hole on her golf cart as her husband pointed to the hole, with the golf ball resting inside. Phelps held up two fingers, implying that he had made a hole-in-one before.
Most holes in golf require at least three to five strokes for a golfer to reach the hole between a tee shot, possible fairway shots and putts. Holes-in-one are extremely rare as they require nearly-impossible precision, but Phelps reached the hole with a well-struck ball and a bit of luck. Unfortunately, no video of the shot exists.
Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history with 23 gold medals, three silver and two bronze. recently was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame in recognition of his amazing accomplishments in his career, which spanned from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Phelps has one surviving world record in the sport, the 4:03.84 in the 400 IM set at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but Frenchman Leon Marchand, who trains with Phelps’ longtime mentor Bob Bowman at Arizona State University, threatened that mark in a stunning performance at the recent World Championships.
Finally found something he is good at….