How many albatrosses have been made in majors after Patrick Reed joined exclusive club?
Holing out for albatross on any course is incredibly rare.
And to do it in a major immediately writes a golfer into the history books.
Indeed, when Gene Sarazen pulled off the feat on the 15th hole at the 1935 Masters, it became known as “the shot heard around the world”.
At Oakmont this week, all the pre-tournament talk was of high scoring and double-bogeys.
But on the par-5 4th on Thursday that all changed: Patrick Reed swung hard with his 3-wood and, sensationally, holed out from 286 yards.
Suddenly, we were all discussing that rarest of birds and asking the obvious question: how many albatrosses have there been in the history of the majors?
First, let’s start with the US Open.
Previously TC Chen (Oakland Hills, 1985), Shaun Micheel (Pebble Beach, 2010) and Nick Watney (Olympic, 2012) had managed an albatross at a US Open – now Captain America has joined the club and become the fourth.
At the time, Reed was one over but in one swish of a club he moved to two-under. He later trebled the 18th for an opening three-over 73.
“It was one of those things that since you didn’t really see it go in, this course is just go out and make good golf swings. You try to hit your spots. It felt like going into there I was swinging it really well. Just happened to be a perfect spot, perfect club. When all you see is a tower, you’re trying to hit at the tower. For it to go obviously is a bonus,” the 2018 Masters champ explained.
ALBATROSS ALERT @PReedGolf with a 2 on a par 5, just the 4th in U.S. Open history! pic.twitter.com/FNDFzWwlzT
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
Bizarrely, for us mere mortals, it wasn’t the first time he had played a single hole in three-under.
“Yeah, that was my third. It wasn’t my best one. My best one was in Germany. It was in a rain delay and we had to come back the next morning. (My caddy) Kess called me off a 4-iron on the last hole and decided to hit cut 5-wood, and right into the hole.
“The other one was actually when I was a kid, the Dominion, No. 9, a par-5 there. I was in the basically right side of the fairway, there’s some overhanging trees. I decided to hit driver off the deck and the group in front of me was on the green and this thing rolls up and they turn around and look at me and then they all start jumping because they watched the ball roll right past them and disappear.”
So, we know there have been four albatrosses in a US Open but what about the other majors?
The tally is surprisingly high, with the Open Championship leading the way with eight. Amazingly, five have come since 2000.
Here is the list. There are – wait for it – 19 of them.
All came on par 5s apart from Young Tom Morris who made a three on a par 6.
Masters (Augusta National)
Gene Sarazen – 1935
Bruce Devlin – 1967
Jeff Maggert – 1994
Louis Oosthuizen – 2012
US Open
TC Chen – 1985 Oakland Hills 1985
Shaun Micheel – 2010 Pebble Beach
Nick Watney – 2012 Olympic Club
Patrick Reed – 2025 Oakmont
The Open
Young Tom Morris – 1870 Prestwick
Johnny Miller – 1972 Muirfield
Bill Rogers – 1983 Birkdale
Manny Zerman – 2000 St Andrews
Jeff Maggert – 2001 Lytham
Greg Owen – 2001 Lytham
Gary Evans – 2004 Troon
Paul Lawrie – 2009 Turnberry
PGA Championship
Darrell Kestner – 1993 Inverness Club
Per-Ulrik Johansson – 1995 Riviera
Joey Sindelar – 2006 Medinah