American Jake Knapp carded the fifteenth sub-60 spherical in PGA Tour historical past on Friday with a 59 within the first spherical of the Congnizant Basic at Palm Seaside Gardens in Florida.
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The 30-year-old poured in 12 birdies in his bogey-free spherical at PGA Nationwide, making a birdie on the final inexperienced to affix the small membership of gamers to interrupt 60 on tour.
Knapp’s birdie bonanza began with a nine-foot birdie putt on the first gap to launch a run of 5 consecutive birdies to open his spherical.
A birdie on the ninth noticed him play the outward half in six-under 30. 5 extra birdies within the first six holes of the again 9 arrange an opportunity for a 59, which he took on the par-five 18th — the place he reached the inexperienced in two and two-putted to affix the sub-60 membership.
After rolling in a 31-foot birdie putt on the par-three fifteenth to cap a run of three straight birdies, Knapp stated, he informed himself “OK, now that is type of right here”.
“However on the similar time didn’t let it have an effect on the sport plan or something like that,” added Knapp. “Tried to hit an aggressive shot into 16, 17 and 18.”
He knew a birdie on the final would give him a 59, however Knapp stated he wasn’t eager about that.
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“I feel you begin eager about it an excessive amount of, you’re simply going so as to add strain to one thing that’s very pointless,” stated Knapp, who admitted he nonetheless felt he may need let a stroke or two get away.
“It’s like I’ll nonetheless assume tonight about the way it ought to have been 58 or 57 or 56,” Knapp stated.
Former US Open champion Jim Furyk holds the report for the bottom ever PGA Tour spherical with a 58 on the 2016 Vacationers Championship.
Furyk additionally has one of many 59s, posted on the way in which to a third-place end on the 2013 BMW Championship.
With afternoon starters nonetheless on the course, Knapp had a four-shot lead over Daniel Berger, Russell Henley and Finland’s Sami Valimaki, who have been all within the clubhouse on eight-under 63.
The string of low scores, led by Knapp, had some gamers questioning what had occurred to Champion Course, which was among the many most feared non-major layouts on the Tour.
“You’ve bought to tip your hat to him,” Billy Horschel stated.
“He shot a 12-under par 59 at PGA Nationwide, which nobody ever thought.
“It’s a little disappointing that, I’d say the situation of the course may be very scorable. However on the similar time, you’ve nonetheless bought to go on the market, you’ve nonetheless bought to hit golf pictures, you’ve nonetheless bought to make putts.”
In the meantime Daniel Berger, who shot a bogey-free 63, stated it was “not the previous Bear Lure that we’re used to”.
There have been a couple of components at play on Friday, beginning with the actual fact there was barely any wind whereas softer circumstances from current rain and an offseason overseeding the Bermudagrass with Ryegrass additionally performed a task.
“I didn’t realise that it was overseeded, and the fairways being overseeded modifications it so much as a result of it’ll make the fairways softer which makes them wider, after which across the greens it’s considerably simpler than the dormant Bermuda,” Jordan Spieth stated.
“You’re simply a stroke a spherical on simply the change within the grass varieties within the fairway.”