Francesco Molinari earned a ticket to two more rounds of the U.S. Open with a clutch hole-in-one on No. 9 Friday at Pinehurst.
Molinari was two shots behind the projected cut when he hit the ace on the par-three hole.
U.S. Open @usopengolf💥 ACE ON THE LAST TO GET INSIDE THE PROJECTED CUT! 💥<a href="">@F_Molinari</a> with the ultimate do or die moment! <a href="">
Molinari went into No. 9 with a 7-over score for a tournament with a projected 5-over cut line.
He made up both of those two shots on the ninth to finish with a 5-over 145, joining the 18 players who made the cut at 5-over.
That marks the first time a player used a hole-in-one to precisely make the cut since PGA Tour data began tracking those numbers in 2003, according to TSN.
"What are the chances really?" Molinari said, per ESPN's Paolo Uggetti. "I don't even know what to say. Just incredible."
Molinari was the second golfer of the day to hit a hole-in-one on No. 9 after Sepp Straka also hit an ace on the hole.
Both Molinari and Straka are now among the 74 players who will make up the finishing field for the 124th U.S. Open.
