Teen, with cart path help, crushes 514-yard drive
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- Yanhan Zhou, 18, hit a 514-yard drive during the third round of the Danish Golf Championship on the DP World Tour, according to the tour's shot tracing data
- The drive came on the 598-yard par-5 fifth hole at Great Northern in Kerteminde, Denmark, where the shot went right of the fairway and Golfweek reported the hole's cart path aided the ball
- Zhou birdied the hole, tapping in from 2 feet after a 104-yard approach shot, though he missed a 29-foot eagle putt
- Zhou entered the final round in contention but shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday to finish in a five-way tie for second at 12-under overall
- Drives of 500 yards or longer are extremely rare in major tour play; Louis Oosthuizen hit a 500-yard, cart-path-aided drive in 2013 at the Ballantine's Championship on the then-European Tour
- Zhou entered the tournament ranked No. 247 in the world and is averaging 304.14 yards off the tee this season, the 61st-longest average on the DP World Tour
Why it matters: A 514-yard drive is rare even by tour standards, but the downhill hole and cart path assistance place it in the same category as Oosthuizen's 2013 shot rather than a clean power feat. Zhou's tie for second at age 18 — ranked just 247th in the world — shows a young player capable of contending on the DP World Tour even when his final-round 73 cost him the win.
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