Tommy Fleetwood Viral Hole-In-One Trick Shot Video Explained

The Englishman's viral video of him apparently hitting a hole-in-one from a cargo plane has been explained

Tommy Fleetwood during the making of his trick shot video
Tommy Fleetwood appeared to hit a hole-in-one from a cargo plane in the video
(Image credit: X @DPWorldTour)

Tommy Fleetwood is one of the best strikers of the ball in the game, and in 2023 an incredible iron drill demonstrated how he has honed his skills over the years. However, even he couldn’t convince fans that he’d pulled off the world's greatest trick shot in a viral social media video from the DP World Tour.

The video shows Fleetwood apparently 30,000 feet in the air over Dubai on a cargo plane, from where he takes a shot which is then followed by a skydiver before the ball eventually drops into one of the holes at Dubai Creek Golf Club. It was undoubtedly an impressive and imaginative video. But how was it put together?

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That has now been explained with a follow-up video posted on the DP World Tour’s social media platforms, where film maker Brandon Baum narrates the incredible detail that went into giving the impression Fleetwood had hit the world’s longest hole-in-one.

Not surprisingly, Fleetwood didn’t really hit the ball from an airborne cargo plane, and neither did Baum skydive out of one. Instead, a metal floor erected to resemble the floor of a cargo plane was used, with Fleetwood shown hitting an imaginary ball into a huge green screen and Baum landing safely on a crash mat.

CGI was used to build up the surrounds of the cargo plane from the metal floor, with an aerial shot of Dubai from Google Earth used for the green screen and Baum appearing to skydive out of the plane before flailing his arms and eventually landing safely on the fairway.

Drone footage was then used to follow the ball across the fairway. Finally, we see Baum’s shadow chasing after the ball before it drops into the hole, which was created from further footage he filmed at the course.

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Despite the trick shot not being real, Fleetwood did achieve another impressive feat at Dubai Creek recently – he held off the challenge of Rory McIlroy to win the inaugural Dubai Invitational at the venue in January.

Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.