Two extraordinary achievements unfolded within a 48-hour span across separate tournaments, highlighting the exceptional nature of golf’s rarest shot: the slam dunk hole-in-one.
Justin Rose and Daniela Darquea each impressed with tee shots that not only found the cup but did so without touching the green—a feat so rare that the emotional reactions from both players were identical, though their awareness of the accomplishment varied.
Rose, competing at the Tour Championship, immediately recognized his 208-yard 6-iron strike from Atlanta’s ninth tee as it vanished straight into the hole. Darquea, at the quieter FM Championship, initially struggled to locate her ball before learning it had aced the LPGA par-3, prompting an exuberant high-five with her caddie.
SLAM DUNK ACE…. and she had no idea
Daniela Darquea’s perfect shot never touched the ground on the way to the hole! pic.twitter.com/4rE3E5nF06
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 27, 2026
For a “slam dunk”—a term borrowed from basketball where shots enter the cup without brushing the green—the odds are exceptionally slim. The PGA of America notes that even on tour, the chance of an ace is 3,000-to-1, while slam dunks are statistically far rarer given the precision required to thread a 1.68-inch ball into a 4.25-inch hole from distance.
Notable professionals like Seve Ballesteros and Andy Murray have spent careers without a single ace, underscoring the shot’s unpredictability. Other slam dunk aces include Brandt Snedeker’s camera-missed 16th-hole ace at the Charles Schwab Challenge and Steph Kyriacou’s at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open.
Rory McIlroy also achieved this feat in the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am’s opening round, celebrating what he’d later win. For Rose, the shot’s difficulty was heightened by a formidable pin position, requiring perfect execution to even approach the hole. “It was such a tough pin… to be honest there’s no way of getting it close unless you do a slam dunk,” he explained to Sky Sports.
According to PGA coach Alison Johns, slam dunk aces defy conventional logic. “Luck must play a role—it’s very rare,” she noted, having never recorded one despite 30 years of teaching. She emphasized that while professionals often target flags, situational factors like pin placement and green contours dictate shot strategy. “To land it at the flag, or short, left, right—that’s the norm. But a hole-in-one is perfection. A slam dunk? That’s divine intervention.”
Though both Rose and Darquea finished their tournaments mid-pack (tied for 18th and 65th, respectively), these moments transcended standings, capturing the week’s most unforgettable highlights through sheer improbability.
