Is 56 The New 59?
We remember when breaking 50 over 9 holes was a reason to get sugar drunk on root beer in the parking lot at 4pm on a Tuesday.
Now we have 13 year-olds breaking 60 over 18 holes.
Al Geiberger shot a 59 in 1977 at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic. At the time this was an unbelievable feat that would never be touched again.
Side note: we'd love to see someone, anyone, shoot a 59 with TopFlite and Spaulding irons. Anyone! (see W(was)ITBfor this burst of excitement)
Chip "I'm gonna layup on 13 at Augusta National" Beck finally tied the feat 14 years later at the Las Vegas Invitational. 7 years later David Duval did the same at the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.
Then all of a sudden 59's are raining men! Or men are raining 59's.
Since 2010, 8 players have shot 59:
- Paul Goydos — 2010 John Deere Classic
- Stuart Appleby — 2010 The Greenbrier Classic
- Jim Furyk — 2013 BMW Championship
- Justin Thomas — 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii
- Adam Hadwin — 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge
- Brandt Snedeker — 2018 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Chappell — 2020 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier
- Scottie Scheffler — 2020 THE NORTHERN TRUST
And somewhere in the fray of all those 59's Jim Furyk bested his best with a 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.
Then we had Jhared (with an H) from our July 31st newsletter shoot a ridiculous 57. Yes, it was on a shorter course not up to PGA Tour standards, but it was a 57!
So the question is, with so many 59's and one 58 in the last decade...when do we start seeing the odd 57 or 56 on tour? Does it happen?