Matt Kuchar celebrates a hole-in-one on the final round at Augusta by giving his ball to a young fan

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There are few sweeter feelings in golf than hitting a hole-in-one.

Better yet, is finding the hole from the tee-shot on the grandest of stages at Augusta.

Matt Kuchar went a step better than that, hitting a hole-in-one on the 16th of the final round to propel himself into the top three of the Masters leaderboard.

Matt Kuchar hands his hole-in-one ball to a young fan in the front of the crowd

The American found the 16th hole from the tee shot during the final round of the Masters

The young boy could not hide his delight after being handed a piece of Masters memorabilia

The American celebrated with his arms outstretched and immediately embraced his caddy.

His next act, was not to pocket the ball and keep it for his mantelpiece as a souvenir.

Instead he proceeded to offer the ball to a visibly thrilled young fan in the crowd. 10-year-old Owen Lockaby, of Bradenton in Florida was overjoyed.

The boy could barely contain his delight, or his shock, at receiving a piece of Masters folklore for his own collection.  

'I figured this would make a kid's day and make a kid's year,' Kuchar said. 'It's one of the neat things that we can do.' 

Kuchar said he did not know Lockaby, that he just noticed the Sam Snead-style hat and said, 'That's the kid I'm giving it to.' 

Owen was still stunned by Kuchar's gift long after the golfer moved on.

'I just sat there. Then Matt gave me the ball,' Owen told The Florida Times-Union.

His mom, Tracy Lockaby, told the newspaper that Owen's father, Jay, has been coming to the Masters for 30 years, and Owen has never missed one. She said she got him the hat 'because I thought it might get him noticed for some autographs.' 

Kuchar's hole-in-one on the 16th helped him finish five under-par, tieing him in third place at the time behind leaders Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.

Speaking to the BBC after completing his round, Kuchar added, with a smile on his face: 'One of the cool parts of our job is to give a smile to a young fan's face. For me that golf ball is not something I save.

'I thought this kid, it could really brighten up this day. Maybe he falls in love with golf and we see him here in a couple of years.'

Kuchar celebrates with his arms outstretched after finding hole on the 16th

The American finished on five under-par and tied for third in the leaderboard at the time