A 15-year-old Wollongong school student who turned down a trial with Manchester United wrote a remarkable chapter in Australian golfing history when he fired a hole-in-one in his first round of a professional tournament.
Teenage prodigy Thomas Heaton, who is already the club champion at The Australian and Wollongong golf clubs, aced the 144-metre second at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club in Sydney's west during the opening round of the NSW Open on Thursday.
The Woonona-raised, self-confessed Everton and Tim Cahill fanatic had to go to bed at half-time of the Socceroos' gripping World Cup qualification win over Honduras on Wednesday night in order to rise before 4am and make his 6.45am tee time.
And having hit off as part of the first group on the course, the amateur ensured his name would be one to remember for years to come, dunking his nine-iron with just his fifth shot in a professional tournament.
"It was actually a groove low, it was a bit thin but it was a perfect line with a little draw, just one hop, a little bit of spin and then straight in," Heaton said.
"It was great to see it go in, being my first pro tournament and second hole. I couldn't be happier with that start."
Heaton, who started playing golf at the age of 10, is no stranger to hole-in-ones, racking up two previously, including one in his first competition round in his first year of golf.
Only this month, he became the youngest winner of The Australian Golf Club's championships in its 135-year history.
Soccer had been his primary passion, but after winning an Illawarra Football Academy competition that included a trial with Manchester United, arguably the world's most famous club, the sporting all-rounder decided to pursue golf.
"If you get in [to the Manchester United Academy] you have to go live in a boarding school, but in the end it wasn't too hard [a decision] because I found golf was more my passion and that's what I wanted to play," Heaton said.
"I talked to family and they were pretty supportive of whatever decision I made and they thought I made the right one.
"A friend down the road said, 'Do you want to come and play golf [when I was 10 years old]?'
"I always used to hang out with his son and I said, 'What's that?'
"He said, 'Just come and see.' I went and really loved it ever since.
"I found golf was more the sport for me. Doing all the hard work I can see is starting to pay off."
Manchester United was one of three clubs, with Fulham and Crewe Alexandra, that offered trials to Heaton.
Heaton only qualified for the NSW Open on Monday after holing a remarkable bunker shot on the third play-off hole at Liverpool Golf Club.
The hole-in-one at Twin Creeks helped him card a respectable one-under 71 in the NSW Open's first round, well in contention to make the weekend cut in the $400,000 tournament before he has even started his Higher School Certificate.
"I've been trying to [do some school], but it's just been so hard," Heaton said.
"I want to try to finish [school] because you just don't know what's going to happen with golf.
"Obviously tomorrow's another day and I want to play the best golf I can."
His father Bill played rugby league for St Helens and Leeds in the United Kingdom during the 1990s.
smh.com.au
