What is an eagle in golf?

An "eagle" in the sport of golf refers to an individual score of two strokes under par on any respective hole. Holes are typically given par numbers like 3, 4 or 5, in reference to how many strokes in which an expert golfer is expected to complete the hole.

While rare, eagles most commonly occur on par-5 holes, indicated by a score of 3, with the golfer hitting the green in two shots and reaching the hole with a single putt.

Bogey and double bogey represent individual scores of one and two strokes over par, while a birdie is one shot under par.

Golf's prestigious "hole-in-one" is a tee shot that lands inside the cup. Because of the difficulty and distance, such shots are extremely rare outside of par-3 holes. On the PGA Tour featuring the world's best golfers, a hole-in-one on a par-4 hole has happened just once as of 2014. Steve Magee accomplished the feat on the 332-yard 17th hole at the 2001 Phoenix Open.

A golfer's final score after completing a 9- or 18-hole game is expressed by the number of shots over or under par. For example, a golfer finishing an 18-hole, par-72 course with a tally of 77 ultimately shot 5 over par, which appears on the leaderboard as +5.