Al Geiberger’s 59 was and will always be professional golf’s first sub-sixty round. Is it the best?
(Image courtesy of Al Geiberger)
Jake Knapp shot a 59 in the Cognizant Classic’s opening round on Feb. 27 at PGA National to become the 14th player in PGA Tour history to post a sub-60 round. It was the third sub-60 round in the past nine months. Is shooting 59 as meaningful today as it was when Al Geiberger was the first reported PGA Tour player to achieve the feat at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977? So how do I rate Knapp’s 59 against others?
First, Knapp beat the field by four shots which I found so impressive regardless of the conditions. Secondly, I have played PGA National several times and it is no push-over. Far from it. Yes, the windless conditions helped considerably as did the rye grass that was used to overseed the Bermuda grass. This made the course a more attractive green, but also softer. Give these professional no wind and soft conditions and watch out!
Perhaps just as or even more impressive was the winner, Joe Highsmith, who closed with rounds of 64-64 for the lowest weekend total at PGA National and a score of 19-under 265, another PGA National record. As only a few had done previously, Highsmith just made the 36-hole cut on the nose, yet won the event. In the first 16 years at PGA National beginning in 2007, only seven players including two who were runner-up finished in double digits under par. This year a 10-under par finish would have left you in a 7-way tie for 32nd place.
Given the difficulty of PGA National and the four-stroke separation from the field, I rank Knapp’s 59 just up there behind Geibergers’s. What Geiberger accomplished was akin to Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile. It had never been done in competition and there was always that psychological barrier to boot. Colonial National in Memphis was a long and challenging course for the time. Geiberger was playing on surfaces not nearly as perfect or consistent as the players face today with little wooden woods, unforgiving irons, and balls that were apt to fly sideways and not nearly as far. For that reason, I will always give the nod to Geiberger unless someone duplicates his score under particularly challenging conditions.
As for great feats, don’t forget Jim Furyk. This quiet, plodder of a professional scored not only a 59 at Conways Farms in 2013, but also a 58 at TPC River Highlands in 2016 — the only person to ever do so. Both were 12-under par rounds with that 58 being the lowest ever shot in official PGA Tour competition.
As is the case in the evolution of sports, expect more of the same amazing golf and lower. The tools, equipment, conditions, nutrition, and training will allow golf’s next generation to score even better!
