Rating Sub-60 Rounds on the PGA Tour
With the 14th just recorded, by Hayden Springer, the first still stands out
It was a Fourth of July that Hayden Springer won’t forget, the fireworks on his scorecard before they were in the sky. His first-round 59 in the John Deere Classic was the 14th score below 60 in PGA Tour history and the second in 12 days, coming on the heels of Cameron Young’s 59 in the third round of the 2024 Travelers Championship.
Young didn’t win after going so low, and the odds aren’t with Springer either. Only five of the previous dozen sub-60 shooters—Jim Furyk has a 58 and a 59—held a trophy the week they broke 60. Regardless of where Springer finishes this weekend in Silvis, Ill., the 59 perked up a rough stretch in which the 27-year-old missed seven of eight cuts during a rookie season that began shortly after his daughter, Sage, 3, passed away last fall from a rare genetic disorder. Plenty of people will be rooting for Springer to use his 59 as a springboard to victory Sunday afternoon. He certainly concluded his round in style—an eagle-birdie finish at par-71 TPC Deere Run, which with TPC River Highlands (site of the Travelers) and The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier Resort are courses to have had multiple sub-60 rounds.
The 59s by Young and Springer, each achieved with preferred lies in effect, are the first on the PGA Tour since 2020, but 11 of the sub-60 scores have occurred since 2010. Why is that? Talent? Clubs and balls? Agronomy? More recently, the fact that golfers are allowed to smooth any imperfection in their putting line?
Coincidentally, in his pre-tournament press conference this week at the John Deere, Jordan Spieth was asked about the evolution of equipment since he won the tournament in 2013.
“I think the driver has come a long way,” Spieth answered. “I remember mishits dropping ball speeds by three, four miles per hour. If I hit one off the heel it’s as fast as if I hit it off the center now. Toe balls are only dropping a couple miles an hour. So much more forgiving. They launch and spin better. Our drivers are close to maxed out. I think there was some room back then, [and] we see where they are now.”
The current maxed-out equipment world of which Spieth speaks factors in my ranking of the top-five PGA Tour sub-60 rounds:
1. Al Geiberger, 59, second round, 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
The first remains the best. Geiberger made 11 birdies and an eagle on par-72 Colonial Country Club, which was a stout 7,193 yards in the persimmon wood and wound, balata-cover ball era. Just two under through his first handful of holes, Geiberger then experienced a magical day on Colonial’s grainy Bermuda greens, among the last putting surfaces tour pros that time believed could give up a 59. The next-best score that steamy hot June 10 was Raymond Floyd’s 65. Preferred lies were in effect due to “winter kill” that primarily affected valleys between tees and landing areas. The tour’s first 59 came 20 years since the most recent of seven 60s on tour—by Sam Snead at the Dallas Open—which is another reason Geiberger’s round stunned and endures. The 39-year-old whose 11 victories came despite health challenges did have a modern twist among his equipment: Before it was common, he carried three wedges, a ConSole model club between Spalding pitching wedge and Wilson R-90 sand iron. Geiberger edged Gary Player and Jerry McGee by two strokes with a late rally in the final round. He won without a round in the 60s (72-59-72-70).
2. David Duval, 59, final round, 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
The Floridian used his 13-under score on the Palmer course at PGA West to charge from seven strokes behind and win—Stuart Appleby in 2010 at The Greenbrier has the only other closing 59 that resulted in a trophy. The normally stoic Duval let it go when he sank a six-footer for eagle on the par-5 finishing hole after hitting a 5-iron from 218 yards. He joined Geiberger and Chip Beck (third round, 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, Sunrise Golf Club) in the 59 Club.
3. Jim Furyk, 58, final round, 2016 Travelers Championship
Jack Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters victory, his sixth at Augusta National, stands out among feats for a golfer 46 years of age, but Furyk deserves to be in the conversation thanks to what he did on a memorable Sunday when he was 46. His nines of 27 and 31 at par-70 River Highlands added up to the lowest score in PGA Tour history and came three years after his 59 in the second round of the BMW Championship at Conway Farms outside Chicago. The lowest score after Furyk’s that day was a 63. Furyk hit every fairway and every green—duplicating what Geiberger did in shooting the maiden 59— and had 24 putts in a round that included seven consecutive birdies starting at No. 6.
4. Stuart Appleby, 59, final round, 2010 Greenbrier Classic
The Australian’s ninth career PGA Tour victory came at on the par-70 Old White course, where a front-nine 28 spurred him to a seven-stroke comeback win over 54-hole leader Jeff Overton. Nearly everyone broke 70 that day, but Woody Austin’s 63 was the closest score to Appleby as he became just the fifth to break 60, only a month after Paul Goydos’ 59 at the John Deere, the first sub-60 round since Duval’s 11 years prior.
5. Jim Furyk, 59, second round, 2013 BMW Championship
Perhaps some personal bias here because it’s the only sub-60 score I witnessed in person, but Furyk’s performance stands on its merits. It’s not the only 59 shot in the PGA Tour Playoffs but eclipses the other one, Scottie Scheffler’s in 2020 at TPC Boston on a day when Dustin Johnson had a 60. Furyk’s fantastic Friday, a 12 under total which ended with a three-foot birdie putt, occurred a day when the next-best score was 65 and the field averaged 71.026. Furyk was the first sub-60 shooter to have a bogey on his card—Justin Thomas and Brandt Snedeker would join that group—and being 43 at the time is the only player other than (Paul Goydos, 2010 John Deere) to break 60 in his 40s.
The other 59s, in chronological order:
Chip Beck, 1991 Las Vegas Invitational; Paul Goydos, 2010 John Deere Classic; Justin Thomas, 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii; Adam Hadwin, 2017 CareerBuilder Classic; Brandt Snedeker, 2018 Wyndham Championship; Kevin Chappell, 2019 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier; Scottie Scheffler, 2020 The Northern Trust; Cameron Young, 2024 Travelers Championship; Hayden Springer, 2024 John Deere Classic.