When was the first official score of 59 achieved in a professional golf tournament?
It was by Al Geiberger (US) in 1977, his 59, a 13 under par score that he shot in the second round of the PGA Tour’s Danny Thomas Memphis Classic where he also went on to wi
He was nicknamed ‘Mr 59’ and that title has stuck with the 86-year-old to this day.
So let’s have a look at the history of 59’s (and even lower) since then, on the elite golf tours around the world. For this article, we have limited the research to golf courses of par 70 and above.
There have been two golfers so far this year who have achieved the feat and we are still only in March.
Joaquin Niemann (Chile) and John Catlin (US) have both broken the barrier, Niemann in LIV Golf and Catlin on the Asian Tour. Remarkably, this is the first 59 on the Asian Tour and the DP World Tour has only ever had one also – by Oliver Fisher in 2018 at the Portugal Masters.
Looking at the ladies’ game, Annika Sorenstam (Swe) is the only female golfer to break 60 on the LPGA.
Let’s not forget the four official rounds of 58, the most recent being the 12 under-par round by Bryson DeChambeau at LIV Golf Greenbrier.
Of the 25 scores recorded of 59 or better on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf League, Asian Tour, Japan Tour, Sunshine Tour and LPGA Tour less than half the players have gone on to win the tournament.
Jim Furyk is the only player to have done it twice, a 59 and a 58.
It seems to be not just a physical barrier to breaking 60 – but more especially a mental barrier.
Looking at another individual sport – the four-minute barrier for the men’s one-mile run was always considered an ultimate barrier. It was achieved by Sir Roger Bannister in 1954. Two months later Bannister and Australia’s John Landy repeated the feat.
The record now stands at 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds.
In golf it is a slightly more visible barrier – golfers tend to know where they are as they mark their cards – a few birdies on the front nine can lead to a buzz around the golf course and media with a #59Watch message.
Some players will argue they were not aware of it – they are, perhaps, in the ‘zone,’ or they did not consider the par of the course – until near the very end of the round. But I am sure the caddie is so aware!
There is occasionally the argument that golf courses should be made tougher to prevent these lower scores.
Golf and all sports these days are now recognized as entertainment – surely, that is the beauty of the game of golf – that some weeks with a US Open style set-up and some rough weather, level par can win – and another week when four rounds of 65 does not give the player a podium finish.
Let’s welcome low scores in golf, with modern equipment, manicured golf courses and elite athletes. As long as the best players are still winning the tournaments – there are surely no issues. Golf is a tough enough game at all levels most of the time – let’s celebrate the players who have achieved sub-60s!