Bryson DeChambeau finally did it. His hole-in-one challenge that took TikTok by storm has come to an end.
A little over two weeks ago, DeChambeau, 31, a member of the LIV Golf League and two-time U.S. Open champion, got on TikTok and vowed to hit a hole-in-one over his Texas home to a putting green in his backyard. Hitting off a mat in his driveway, he fired shot after shot over his house in search of an elusive ace.
The rules were simple: Each day, he increased the number of attempts by one. So on day one, he hit one shot; day two, two shots; day three, three shots; and so on until he found the cup. DeChambeau came close several times (and never sent a shot careening into his home) but the ball never rolled into the hole.
Then, on the 14th shot of day 16, he finally made a hole-in-one. “Are you kidding me? No way! Let’s go! Let’s go, baby!” exclaimed DeChambeau after he made the shot before he
Writing for GolfDigest.com, Jamie Kennedy broke down the numbers involved in the challenge. The shot measured 97 yards with a slight downhill slope. According to Kennedy’s measurements, the hole played 91 yards. Under normal course conditions and playing from the fairway, Kennedy wrote that a pro golfer’s chances of holing an approximately 100-yard shot is one in 500 (day 32). However, DeChambeau’s shot was from the same lie under the same conditions every day. That dropped his odds to one in 175 (day 19). DeChambeau made it on his 134th shot, beating the odds by a few days.
The challenge also grew DeChambeau’s online presence significantly. Kennedy wrote that the 16 videos he posted had 81.4 million total video views – over 5.2 million per video – and over seven million likes. He also added 450,000 TikTok followers, wrote Kennedy.
It also spawned a number of other similar attempts – some serious and others not so much. DeChambeau’s challenge kept the golf world engaged in a time of the year when things are usually pretty quiet. It was a lot of fun and showed fans a different side of DeChambeau, who has at times been a polarizing figure among golf enthusiasts.