What Is the Lowest Single-Round Score in PGA Tour History and Who Shot It?
Professional golfers these days shoot in the 60s regularly. You can’t win a tournament on the PGA Tour today if you don’t shoot under par consistently. The strong, athletic golfers in 2020 might hit it longer and go lower than golfers of past generations, but none of the young bucks own the record for the lowest score in a single round. That title belongs to a man who can’t even drive the ball 300 yards. So who is it and what is the lowest score ever recorded on the PGA Tour?
There have been 9 total 59s on the PGA Tour
The infamous 59 is a score all professional golfers dream of shooting. It’s been done nine times in the history of the PGA Tour, but 59 is not the lowest score ever recorded.
Al Geiberger was the first player to accomplish the feat on the PGA Tour back in 1977 at Colonial Country Club. Geiberger shot 72, 72, and 70 the other three days of the tournament, but he still won because of his nuclear 59 in the second round.
Chip Beck was the next player to do it in 1991. David Duval followed Beck with his own 59 in 1999. Duval’s was especially impressive considering it happened in the final round of a tournament and he eagled the 18th hole to secure his historic round.
In 2010, both Paul Goydos and Stuart Appleby shot 59 in different tournaments. Three years later, Jim Furyk did it at the BMW Championship.
In the last three years, there have been four 59s on the PGA Tour. Justin Thomas and Adam Hadwin both had one in 2017, and Brandt Snedeker got in on the action in 2018. The most recent 59 came from Kevin Chappell last season at The Greenbrier.
Jim Furyk shot the PGA Tour’s lone 58 in 2016
In 2016, Jim Furyk made history by becoming the first PGA Tour player to shoot 58 in a tournament. Furyk was 46 years old at the time, which made it even more impressive.
The legendary round occurred on August 7 at TPC River Highlands in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship. Furyk started hot with a hole-out eagle on the third hole, but the round only got more special from there.
Furyk made seven straight birdies in the middle of the round to go 11-under through 12 holes. He realistically had a chance to shoot 56 or 57, but he parred five of the last six after his scorching front nine. The veteran had a putt for 57 on the 18th hole, but he missed it by no less than an inch.
Incredibly, Furyk hit all 18 greens in regulation on that historic day.
“Late in that front nine, I had a special feeling. To turn in 27, you can’t help but think about it. To be 11 under par with six to play, it became a mental game,” Furyk told Golf Channel after the tournament. “There’s a lot of rounds by a lot of great players ahead of me that never reached 58. To hold it on the PGA Tour is phenomenal. To have a piece of PGA Tour history is something you dream of.”
There are 4 known 55s recorded in golf history
Furyk’s 58 is the official record for lowest round in PGA Tour history, but a few golfers have actually recorded rounds of 55.
The first 55 occurred in 1935 by a man named E.F. Staugaard. He reportedly accomplished the feat at the Montebello Park course in California. Homero Blancas shot another 55 in 1962 at an amateur event.
A man named Steve Gilley also shot a 55 in 2004, only it wasn’t in a professional tournament. His 55 came from a regular round with his friends at Lynwood Golf & Country Club in Virginia.
The most recent 55 came from Australian pro Rhein Gibson. He shot 26-29 at River Oaks Golf Club in Oklahoma in 2012 for his historic round.
