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Forget Tiger Woods – here's Cyber Woods: Robot golfer hits hole-in-one during tournament

Quaffs oil at the 19th hole

Vids and pic A robotic golfer has pulled off a feat that most fleshy humans have never managed – scoring a hole-in-one at one of the most famous golf courses in the US.

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The robot is called LDRIC (Launch Directional Robot Intelligent Circuitry) as an homage to Tiger Woods' first name of Eldrick, and was the guest star at the Phoenix Open. It was developed by Golf Laboratories, which manufactures testing equipment for hardware used while spoiling a good walk.

The hole-in-one took place at the 16th hole of the Scottsdale golf course, the only hole in the US PGA tour that's completely enclosed by grandstands. It's the same hole where Tiger Woods shot his famous 1997 hole-in-one.

Youtube Video

Sadly, the metal LDRIC wasn't quite as good as its namesake – the robot took five attempts before making the crucial drive. But when the ball went in, the 20,000-strong crowd showered the robot with praise, as is traditional at the somewhat rowdy 16th hole.

The 7.8 horsepower robot is controlled by a human and can vary its stroke from slow putting to thwacking golf balls at 120 mph. Although the machine was carefully calibrated to make the hole-in-one attempt, it's still an impressive achievement. ®

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