Louis Oosthuizen may have just missed a chance at the green jacket this weekend, but the sting of a loss was assuaged by a record-setting double eagle on the second hole, the first ever for the young South African golfer and the first 2 on the hole in the tournament’s history.
The shot was overshadowed by Bubba Watson’s game-ending drive from a dense thicket of trees, which flew 155 yards on a curve and was deemed “unbelievable” by Oosthuizen himself.
But the day was about accomplishments other than that famed grass-colored jacket, and Oosthuizen will go down in history as the first player ever to make a double eagle “albatross”–which means scoring 3 under par–on the second hole at Augusta National.
“That was my first double-eagle ever,” Oosthuizen said, “so it was tough the next five holes to just get my head around it and just play the course.”
The first albatross to be made famous in the Masters was on the 15th hole by Gene Sarazen in 1935. Sarazen’s play caused a tie, which he broke the next day to win the championship.
59-year old Wayne Mitchell happened to be sitting near the now-famous double eagle ball when it came to a stop after Oosthuizen pulled it out of the cup and tossed it toward the spectators. He reached out and grabbed it, a little souvenir of history made. Officials were reportedly in talks with him to get the ball back, but no plans have been made for it yet.