The Pro Golfers Who Have Broken 60

Unless you are a golf geek you would not have heard of Cristobal del Solar before Thursday night. You may still not know who he is.

He wrote himself into the history books with a mind-blowing round of 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour. He had nine birdies and two eagles and missed a putt for a 56 on the final hole of the par-70 Pacos course in Bogota.

The course is only 6,254 yards and is around 8,500ft above sea level, which means the ball flies further. Rainy conditions in the days leading up to the tournament meant players were permitted to lift, clean and place golf balls under preferred lie rule.

Del Solar broke the previous Korn Ferry record of 58 held by Stephan Jaegerm which was set during the first round of the Ellie Mae Classic in 2016. David Carey was the first player with a 57, which he carded in the 2019 Cervino Open on the Alps Tour.

I have played golf for many years and have followed the professional game for more than 50 years and have reached the conclusion that these golfers are now playing a game with which I am no longer familiar.

There have been 12 sub-60 rounds on the PGA Tour. Remarkably, there has only been one each on the DP World Tour and LPGA Tour and we have already seen two on the LIV circuit.

Here we look at some of the most incredible rounds.

Jim Furyk - 58, 2016 Travelers Championship

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Furyk takes pride of place at the top of this list because he proves that in this day and age of huge hitting, it is possible to shoot a round that defies belief if you can keep the ball on the fairway and hole a few putts. Well, a lot of putts. But you get my point. Oh yes, and he also recorded a 59 at the BMW Championship three years earlier. Hard as it may be to believe, Furyk did not win either of these tournaments!

Bryson De Chambeau - 58, 2023 LIV Golf Greenbrier

And at the other end of the scale comes the monster that is DeChambeau, who believes it is possible to overpower any course on the planet, no matter where his drives finish. It doesn’t always work. Of course it doesn’t. But it all came right for him. If ever there was a current player who is capable of doing it again (and maybe going even lower still) it is probably this man.

Annika Sorenstam - 59, 2001 Standard Ping Register

The Swede is arguably the best woman golfer we have ever seen and so it is entirely appropriate that she should become the first LPGA Tour golfer to shoot a 59. Although several women have threatened to emulate her feat, she remains the only one to have done so.

Oliver Fisher - 59, 2018 Portugal Masters

There have been many rounds of 60 on the DP World Tour, and it was beginning to look like nobody would ever be able to break that barrier but on a magical day in Portugal in 2018, Fisher finally did it. Nobody has been able to replicate the feat, although plenty have threatened to do so.

Al Geiberger - 59, 1977 Memphis Classic

Many PGA Tour players had come close but when any discussion about sub-60 rounds takes place it will always feature Geiberger. Why? Quite simply because he was the first to achieve this remarkable feat, and that is something that nobody will ever be able to take away from him.

David Duval - 59, 1999 Bob Hope Invitational

This was the time when Duval was giving Tiger Woods a decent run for his money as the world’s best golfer. And what makes this round stand out is the fact that it came in the final round and he holed a putt on the final green to achieve it. Many golfers who go really low have no idea exactly how they stand in relation to par, but Duval did.

Wyndham Clark - 60, 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

I have included this round on the list purely and simply because of the iconic status of Pebble Beach and the fact that Clark’s round included a bogey at a par three that required him to hole a 25-foot putt. On each of the final three holes he left putts hanging on the lip.

Breaking 60 does not guarantee victory. Here is the complete list:

PGA Tour

58 - Jim Furyk, final round, 2016 Travelers Championship.

59 - Al Geiberger, second round, 1977 Memphis Classic.

59 - Chip Beck, third round 1991 Las Vegas Invitational.

59 - David Duval, final round, 1999 Bob Hope Invitational.

59 - Paul Goydos, first round, 2010 John Deere Classic.

59 - Stuart Appleby, final round, 2010 Greenbrier Classi.

59 - Jim Furyk, second round, BMW Championship.

59 - Justin Thomas, first round, 2017 Sony Open.

59 - Adam Hadwin, third round, 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge.

59 - Brandt Snedeker, first round, 2018 Wyndham Championship.

59 - Kevin Chappell, second round, 2019 Military Tribute at Greenbrier.

59 - Scottie Scheffler, second round, 2020 The Northern Trust.

LPGA Tour

59 - Annika Sorenstam, second round, 2001 Standard Register Ping.

DP World Tour

59 - Oliver Fisher, second round, 2018 Portugal Masters.

LIV Golf

58 - Bryson DeChambeau, final round, 2023 LIV Golf-Greenbrier.

59 - Jaoquin Niemann, first round, 2024 LIV Golf Mayakoba.

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