U.S. Open: Matthieu Pavon makes hole-in-one at Los Angeles Country Club

Matthieu Pavon made a memory for a lifetime with a hole-in-one during the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

The Frenchman's tee shot into the par-three 15th pitched a few feet past the pin, took one forward bounce before it gripped and rolled back into the cup.

The ace - the first of his career - sparked a jubilant reaction from Pavon and delighted the watching crowds in the grandstand behind the tee as he was congratulated by playing partners Ryo Ishikawa and Kevin Streelman.

But without the crowds, Pavon might not have even known he'd had a hole in one.

"I reacted to the crowd," Pavon explained.

"The thing is like the hole is just behind the slope so we can't really see it. I just saw the bounce forward and kind of like seeing it was zipping left-to-right. So I knew it was close, but I just, I just heard the crowd getting more and more loud and then I just, I just knew it was in.

"I don't know how many players have got a hole-in-one in a U.S. Open. It's quite cool to be part of this group of people and it's my first as a professional. So sharing this with the crowd today was just a moment I would never forget."

It was the 49th hole-in-one in U.S. Open history, which Pavon achieved with his gap wedge, and was followed later in the same day by the 50th as Sam Burns hit a perfect shot on the same hole.

"That was just a perfect number," Pavon said of his own shot.

"Because it was a full gap. I had nothing to change, just a normal one. Not a three-quarter, not a punch, whatever, it was just a perfect number. With my caddie we agreed that we need to pitch like one or two yards left. And the ball went straight where I wanted. So after like getting that hole-in-one it's just like a bit of luck, but that shot like from the strike to the end was just a perfect shot."

Pavon is making his third U.S. Open appearance this week after qualifying for the third men’s Major Championship of the year by advancing from Final Qualifying at Walton Heath last month.

After playing his opening ten holes in two over par, the hole-in-one on one of the five par threes on the North Course – which is hosting a Major for the first time this week – lifted him to even par.

A bogey at the par-four 17th saw him card an opening one-over 71.

The 2016 European Challenge Tour graduate has recorded three top tens on the DP World Tour so far this season as he targets a breakthrough victory.