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2026 Masters Tournament: Xander Schauffele tee shot lands in patron's bag

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs04/09/26grant_grubbs_

On Thursday, golfer Xander Schauffele‘s shot on the eighth hole landed in a patron’s bag. The unusual incident forced an official to step in and drop the ball out of the bag.

Spectators couldn’t help but laugh in the background at the odd scenario. While the moment was likely a first for Schauffele, there’s little that can rattle a golfer as experienced as him.

At 32 years old, Schauffele has been competing in the PGA for 10 years. He boasts 10 wins on the PGA Tour. Most notably, he won the PGA Championship in 2024.

In 2019, he finished in second place at the Masters. Now, Schauffele is determined to secure the first green jacket of his career.

As of this report, Schauffele is tied for 11th place through nine holes. Of course, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to make up ground on the current leaders.

Schauffele’s shot isn’t the only one that’s turned heads at the Masters this year. On Wednesday, Justin Thomas stepped up to the tee box and scored an ace in the Masters Par 3 Contest. It was the first hole-in-one of the afternoon on Wednesday.

Thomas made a nice $1,000 with that shot. He appeared to confirm to Scott Van Pelt of ESPN that there was a wager involved with his playing partners, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa.

“I probably enjoyed that shot a lot more than Jordan and Max did,” Thomas told Van Pelt. “Maybe 1,000 times more than they did.”

It’s a dream start to the week for Thomas, who is looking to win his first green jacket. The two-time PGA Championship champion is making his 11th Masters start. He’s made the cut eight times, finishing a career-best eighth in 2020. After missing the cut in both 2023 and ’24, he rebounded to finish T36 in 2025.

Thomas has made just three starts thus far in 2026. He missed the cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finished T8 the following week in the Players Championship. Thomas last teed it up in the Valspar Championship, March 19-22, coming away with a T30 result.

On3’s Nick Geddes also contributed to this report.