Pig out: Player wins weight in ham for hole-in-one

• By Associated Press
• Oct 7, 2011 8:32 AM ET

MADRID – Scottish golfer Elliot Saltman made a hole-in-one during his second round at the Madrid Masters on Friday to earn a tasty prize – his bodyweight in ham.

Saltman aced the par-3 third at El Encin Golf Hotel to claim the reward.

“I’ve been trying to lose weight but now I’m thinking I should have just kept it,” Saltman said.

Heavily cured and salted ham is a Spanish delicacy and was the prize on offer at the third – rewards for holes-in-one on other holes included a car and a watch.

“I see the Volvo and the Audemars watch are up as well, but I’ll take 12 stone (76 kilograms, 168 pounds) of ham any day,” Saltman said. “To get a hole-in-one in any tournament is just brilliant.”

Tournament spokeswoman Maria Madrigal told The Associated Press that Saltman would actually take home more than 108 kilograms (238 pounds) of ham because organizers went by the weight listed on his official European Tour profile.

Saltman’s only problem now is getting the “excess baggage” back to Scotland.

“I don’t think they’ll let me take that on the plane,” he said.

Saltman has a knack of carding holes-in-one – he hit two in different rounds on the 17th hole at the Wales Open in June.

Despite the feat on Friday, the No. 686-ranked player is well off the leaders’ pace – after two rounds he was 3 over and 14 shots behind clubhouse leader Lee Slattery of England.

In January, Saltman was given a three-month ban from the European Tour for marking his ball incorrectly at a Moscow tournament in September 2010.

He was the first professional to be banned from the European Tour since 1992, when Johan Tumba of Sweden was suspended for 10 years for altering his scorecard at qualifying school.