New mom’s hole-in-one at U.S. Women’s Open accompanied by perfect play-by-play call

Contrary to what you might believe following the U.S. Women’s Open carnage on Golf Twitter on Thursday, there are some players having good days at Lancaster Country Club. Yes, World No. 1 Nelly Korda made a 10 on a par 3, but there are plenty of people under par. (*Checks leaderboard*) OK, so there are a few people under par. Emphasis on a few.

But while Korda’s shocking double-digit score understandably grabbed most of the attention, Sophia Popov played another par 3 in nine fewer shots. That’s right, we’ve got a first hole-in-one of the week at Lancaster and it came on a difficult par 3.

Playing the 205-yard, uphill eighth, her 17th hole of the day, Popov pulled some lumber and sent her tee shot rattling off the stick and in. We loved the shot, the celebration, and also the call of NBC Sports’ Grant Boone.

“Major champion Sophia Popov at the par-3 eighth,” Boone begins. “Became a mom last June and, oh, BABY! An ace at the eighth. That one’s for Maya.”

Well played, Grant. Although, as you can tell from the highlight package music playing underneath, that wasn’t live.

Still, it was a nice touch and an even nicer result for Popov, who had her first child on June 11. And now less than a year later, this LPGA mom is making aces at the U.S. Women’s Open.

The 2020 Women’s British Open winner also finds herself in good shape for the tournament after posting a two-over-par 72 on Day 1. Popov missed the cut in her first six starts as a mom, but she seems to be finding her form after finishing T-14 Mizuho Americas Open two weeks ago. And now she might need to find her wallet to buy a few drinks.