It was undoubtedly the shot of the tournament and triggered riotous applause from golf fans at the BMW Championship on Saturday: Hunter Mahan (USA) fired a spectacular ace on the 17th hole (par 3, 190 metres). This hole-in-one helped Mahan to an impressive round of seven under par. Above all, however, the 31-year-old is now the proud owner of a BMW i3, which was launched just a few weeks ago and is not yet available in the USA. As the world’s first premium automobile designed from scratch purely for electrical mobility, the BMW i3 is the first production vehicle built predominantly from carbon.
In shooting his ace, Mahan went one better than former world number one Rory McIlroy (NIR). Prior to the start of the third Playoff tournament on the PGA TOUR, the winner of the 2012 BMW Championship had taken the opportunity to test drive the BMW i3 and was impressed by the speed and handling of Mahan’s new car. Will he take the Northern Irishman for a ride in his new BMW i3?
“I’ll have to think hard about that. After all, it is a really cool car and I am one of the first to get my hands on it. Rory will have to ask very nicely… But seriously: I am very impressed by the BMW i3. It looks awesome and it is great to know that it is completely zero-emission. So far I have only been able to sit in the car briefly, but I am really looking forward to driving the BMW i3.”
Although the BMW i3 has found its way into the hands of a new owner, the pros still have one more chance to win a new set of wheels at the BMW Championship, which will now be concluded on Monday after rain suspended play on Sunday: the first player to hit an ace on the eleventh hole will be rewarded with the breath-taking BMW M6 Gran Coupé. Given Jim Furyk’s record-equalling round of 59 on Friday – the American became only the sixth player in the history of the PGA TOUR to card a sub-60 round – and Mahan’s dream shot, it would be quite fitting at such an eventful BMW Championship for someone to get their hands on the second Hole-in-One Car too.
The caddie who receives a full college scholarship from the Evans Scholars Foundation courtesy of Mahan’s masterstroke will also be delighted. BMW’s donation for the first hole-in-one of the tournament will cover his or her 100,000 dollar costs.
Source; BMW
