American Paul Goydos became just the fourth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59, with a bogey-free brilliant opening round at the US$4.4 million John Deere Classic on Thursday.
The 46-year-old Goydos rolled in a dozen birdies, including eight on the back nine at par-71 TPC Deere Run. He capped his glorious day with a seven-foot putt at the 18th hole that gave him the first 59 on the PGA Tour since David Duval in 1999.
PHOTO: AFP
The round came as much as a surprise to Goydos as it did to everyone else.
“Today was a nuclear bomb,” Goydos said. “I don’t know where it came from. If I knew that, I wouldn’t be able to touch it.”
Defending champion Steve Stricker shot a 60, coming close to tying Goydos on No. 18. Goydos has just two wins in his 18 season PGA Tour career and hasn’t had a top-40 finish since May.
“It’s almost a mythical number in our game,” Goydos said. “I’ve gone from clubbing a ball in the backyard all the way to the moon, and missed all the steps in between.”
American Duval won the 1999 Bob Hope Classic with a final round 59.
Al Geiberger was the first to shoot 59, in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club. Chip Beck shot his 59 in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational at Sunrise Golf Course.
Goydos is the first to shoot 59 on a par 71. The others came on par 72s.
■US WOMEN’S OPEN
REUTERS, OAKMONT, PENNSYLVANIA
Brittany Lang refused to be intimidated by the vaunted Oakmont Country Club course and shot a two-under-par 69 to grab a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round of the US Women’s Open.
Lang, 24, balanced two birdies with a pair of bogeys on the front nine and took her score to three under par with a trio of birdies before slipping back with a bogey at the last.
One shot back were 2008 winner Park In-bee and fellow South Koreans MJ Hur and Amy Yang, along with 22-year-old South African amateur Kelli Shean, who also bogeyed her last hole.
A host of top name players were in close contention, with world No. 1 Cristie Kerr and fellow Americans Paula Creamer and Christina Kim among a group of 14 players at 72.
Nineteen players were on 73, including Kraft Nabisco winner Yani Tseng of Taiwan, world No. 2 Ai Miyazato of Japan, 2009 Kraft Nabisco champion Brittany Lincicome and 2007 LPGA Championship winner Suzann Pettersen of Norway.
Tseng’s Taiwanese compatriots Candie Kung and Teresa Lu carded 76 and 79, respectively.
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