What happens after a PGA Tour player shoots a 59? Jake Knapp is about to find out.
That's the average score — well, 68.64, to be exact — for those coming back to work on the PGA Tour a day after joining golf's under-60 club.
Knapp set a course record at a defenseless PGA National on Thursday with a 12-under round of 59, the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. The second round — with a bit more wind in the forecast, which could be a major change from Thursday's combination of no breeze and soft greens — will begin Friday morning with Knapp leading by four strokes over Daniel Berger, Russell Henley and Sami Valimaki.
'I like this golf course,' Knapp said after finishing the 59 on Thursday. 'I'm comfortable on it. When the wind was down, I knew that it was going to be gettable. When this place gets windy, it can get really challenging, so it's one of those where you know you have to play pretty aggressive when it's not windy, so I just did my best to do that.'
A look at how PGA Tour players have fared the day after breaking 60:
A lucky few got the day off
Jim Furyk (58 in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship), David Duval (59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Invitational) and Stuart Appleby (59 in the final round of the 2010 Greenbrier Classic) all didn't have to play the next day.
Duval and Appleby rode their 59s to wins. Furyk tied for fifth that week, three shots behind Russell Knox.
Al Geiberger, Justin Thomas and Brandt Snedeker all won
Al Geiberger shot the first 59 on the tour in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic. He shot a 72 on the third round, but won the tournament by three shots.
'I didn't know how hard it was to do that,' Geiberger said years later.
Justin Thomas was lights-out all week at the 2017 Sony Open, with rounds of 59, 64, 65 and 65 on his way to a win.
Brandt Snedeker also got his 59 in a first round, coming in the 2018 Wyndham Championship. He followed that with rounds of 67, 68 and 65 and got a victory.
Paul Goydos and Adam Hadwin finished second
Paul Goydos had an opening-round 59 at the 2010 John Deere Classic. He shot 68, 67 and 66 in the next three rounds, coming in second and two shots behind Steve Stricker that week.
Adam Hadwin got his 59 in the third round of the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge. It was in between rounds of 71, 69 and 70, and he was second that week by one shot to Hudson Swafford.
'An incredible week,' Hadwin said.
For Chip Beck, 29 under wasn't enough
Chip Beck's 59 came in the third round (of five) at the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational. He shot 68-67 on the weekend and finished at 29 under, good for a tie for third that week, two shots back of the leaders. Andrew Magee beat D.A. Weibring in a playoff.
Furyk, Scheffler, Young, Springer got top 10s
Furyk — in the first of his two sub-60 rounds — shot a 59 in the second round of the 2013 BMW Championship, a mere 13 shots better than he fared in Round 1 that week. He had rounds of 69 and 71 on the weekend and tied for third.
Scottie Scheffler shot a 59 in the second round of the 2010 Northern Trust, followed it with rounds of 67 and 71 and finished tied for fourth.
Hayden Springer opened the 2024 John Deere Classic with a 59 — on July 4, no less — and shot 71-66-67 the rest of the way to tie for seventh. Cameron Young had his 59 in the third round of last year's Travelers Championship, then carded a final-round 66 and finished tied for ninth.
'I don't even really have words,' Springer said that day. 'I'm still shaking a little bit.'
Kevin Chappell had a week to remember
Kevin Chappell didn't have a round in the 60s during the 2019 Military Tribute at Greenbrier. He finished tied for 47th that week, with an opening-round 71 and rounds of 73 and 72 on the weekend.
But he shot 59 on Friday in Round 2 — only a few months after major back surgery.
'I guess my thoughts are just extreme gratitude,' he said after the 59. 'I just couldn't feel more lucky to be here right now. Ten months ago I was laying on my couch and couldn't get up. So many people sacrificed to get me here, especially my family. A lot of people believed in me, put in a lot of hard work. ... I just couldn't be more proud of myself right now.'
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