Friday 9 October 2020 16:03, UK
David Howell could have been forgiven for thinking he had won a car worth over £70,000 when he made a hole-in-one in the second round of the BMW PGA Championship.
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Howell's perfectly-struck seven-iron at the 184-yard 14th at Wentworth pitched a few yards short of the flag and hopped straight into the cup, although with no crowds surrounding the elevated green, he appeared unaware that he would not require his putter.
A brand new BMW is the usual prize for an ace at the 14th, with Chris Wood winning an i8 hybrid sports car worth over £100,000 in 2015 - the fifth ace of that year's tournament.
But although there was a BMW 530e Touring behind the tee this year, Howell will not be driving it home after European Tour officials decided a hole-in-one would result in the value of the car - £71,675.01 - being donated to the Alzheimers Society.
"It was playing downwind, so it was a standard seven-iron for me," said the champion of 14 years ago, who went on to return a 68 which got him safely into the weekend on four under par.
"It came out beautifully, right out of the middle of the club, maybe two yards left of where I was aiming if I was going to be honest but a really lovely shot and it was always going to be close.
"It was a bit hard to tell with the reaction from the cameraman and the stats guy what had happened but my caddie thought maybe it had gone in, but I wasn't so sure. So it was a very nice surprise when we got up there.
"It's a lot of money to charity and it's a great thing. We're very lucky to be out here playing. We're in the middle of a pandemic playing here in a Rolex Series event, and we've been very lucky to get back on Tour and go about our business.
"Golf for Good has been our initiative since we've been back and we want to give back where we can, so I'm very pleased that my seven-iron was able to do that in such a big way. It's a lot of money to go to the charity as well, which is great, a very worth charity of course, and hopefully it will help a lot of people out.
"I was the last man into this field so there's a bit of karma around, and I'm just delighted to be here. Today was a great day for me and to add to the history on this famous 14th hole at Wentworth in this amazing championship is a lovely thing for me."
Watch the video above to see Howell's hole-in-one earn over £70,000 for charity.
