It is a form of dream limit for professional golfers – to go under 60 strokes in a tournament round. Jake Knapp is the latest on the PGA tour to know how it feels.
When he rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole at PGA National Resort (par 71) in Palm Beach Gardens, the 30-year-old got to sign for 59 strokes total. It meant 12 strokes under par on the first round and the lead.
"Everything worked"
It was just one of those days when everything worked, says Knapp, who is ranked 99th in the world and who last year won a tournament during his debut season on the tour.
After the first nine holes, it looked like Jesper Svensson – who is making his first season on the US tour – would be able to challenge Knapp. The Swede was, just like the American, six strokes under par after the first nine holes.
I felt like I was playing pretty well throughout the first nine, but I still felt like I had to chase all day, says Svensson, thinking about Knapp's round.
The only blunder on the round for Svensson was a double bogey on hole 15, but it also included three new birdies for a total of 64 strokes (-7). With that, he is currently tied for fifth.
59 strokes by Sörenstam
Tim Widing (-3), Vincent Norrman (-3), and Henrik Norlander (-1) are further down the results list.
The record on the PGA tour is held by Jim Furyk, USA, who in 2016 went a tournament round on 58 strokes. Furyk has once in his career also responded with a 59-round. A total of 14 different male players have now managed to go under 60 strokes on the PGA tour.
On the women's LPGA tour, only one player has managed the feat, and that is the Swedish legend Annika Sörenstam, who went a round on 59 strokes in 2001.
