Pro Golf’s 59 Club: All Rounds of 59, 58, 57 & the LPGA 59

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A “59 club” round is a score of 59 or lower shot in a professional golf tournament. Sixteen such rounds exist on the PGA Tour, with Jim Furyk’s 58 standing alone. Annika Sorenstam owns the only LPGA 59. The feat requires near-perfect ball-striking and putting, typically on a shorter, low-scoring course setup, and it remains one of the sport’s rarest achievements.

The gap between a 59 and a 60 is a canyon of pressure. It’s not about one more birdie. It’s about executing every shot for four hours while the weight of history settles on your shoulders with each hole. The putts get a little quicker, the fairways feel a little narrower, and the arithmetic in your head won’t shut up.

What follows is the complete ledger: every name, score, and course that makes up golf’s most exclusive club. This article discusses the PGA Tour’s sixteen, the lone LPGA 59, the surprising 57, and what this record tells us about the modern game’s scoring explosion.

Key Takeaways

  • Jim Furyk is the only player with a 58 on the PGA Tour, shooting 27-31 at TPC River Highlands in 2016. He’s also the only golfer with two sub-60 rounds on Tour (59 in 2013).
  • Annika Sorenstam’s 59 in 2001 remains the only one in LPGA Tour history, achieved at the Standard Register Ping tournament.
  • Cristobal Del Solar shot a 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, the lowest score ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
  • Only three PGA Tour 59s included a bogey, with Brandt Snedeker’s in 2018 being the most recent example.
  • Since 2010, sub-60 rounds have occurred with increasing frequency, with eleven of the PGA Tour’s sixteen happening in this era, suggesting a shift in course conditions and player aggression.

What Exactly Is “The 59 Club” in Golf?

Let’s be clear about this. The “59 club” is shorthand for the most elusive scoring benchmark in professional golf: posting a round of 59 or lower in an official tournament, not a formal organization. It represents a complete dismantling of a golf course for one day.

The magic lies in the sustained, flawless aggression required, not just the number. A par 72 course demands 13 under par.On a par-70 layout, it’s 11-under. That means stringing together a run of birdies and eagles while avoiding the single mistake that resets the mental clock. The pressure amplifies over the final holes, where the player knows exactly what’s at stake. The putt for 59 is arguably the most nerve-wracking in the sport, precisely because it’s for history, not just a tournament lead.

Where this goes sideways: Chasing a 59 from the first tee. Every player who’s done it describes a round that built momentum slowly. Trying to force birdies early usually leads to a bogey by the turn, which kills the dream before the back nine even starts.

The Complete List of PGA Tour Sub-60 Rounds

There have been 16 sub-60 rounds in PGA Tour history. Fifteen are 59s. One is a 58. This table lists them all in chronological order, which shows the accelerating pace of the achievement.

Golfer Score Course (Par) Event Year Key Detail
Al Geiberger 59 Colonial CC (72) Memphis Classic 1977 The original “Mr. 59.” 11 birdies, 1 eagle.
Chip Beck 59 Sunrise GC (72) Las Vegas Invitational 1991 13 birdies, all pars.
David Duval 59 PGA West Palmer (72) Bob Hope Chrysler Classic 1999 Eagled the 72nd hole to win by one.
Paul Goydos 59 TPC Deere Run (70) John Deere Classic 2010 Opened with 59, finished 2nd.
Stuart Appleby 59 TPC Old White (70) Greenbrier Classic 2010 Final round 59 to win.
Jim Furyk 59 Conway Farms GC (71) BMW Championship 2013 11 birdies, 1 eagle, 1 bogey.
Justin Thomas 59 Waialae CC (70) Sony Open 2017 Won by seven strokes.
Adam Hadwin 59 La Quinta CC (72) CareerBuilder Challenge 2017 13 birdies.
Brandt Snedeker 59 Sedgefield CC (70) Wyndham Championship 2018 Only 59 to start with a bogey.
Kevin Chappell 59 Old White TPC (70) The Greenbrier 2019 Tied record with 9 consecutive birdies.
Scottie Scheffler 59 TPC Boston (71) THE NORTHERN TRUST 2020 Second 59 in FedExCup Playoffs history.
Cameron Young 59 TPC River Highlands (70) Travelers Championship 2024 Featured a 142-yard eagle hole-out.
Hayden Springer 59 TPC Deere Run (70) John Deere Classic 2024 Shot 27 on the front nine.
Jake Knapp 59 PGA National Champion (70) Cognizant Classic 2025 First 59 at that storied course.
Michael Kim 59 TPC Twin Cities (71) 3M Open 2026 The most recent PGA Tour 59.
Jim Furyk 58 TPC River Highlands (70) Travelers Championship 2016 The only 58. 10 birdies, 1 eagle.

The data from the PGA Tour’s own official 59 club record shows a clear trend. For over two decades, it was a once-in-a-generation feat. Since 2010, it’s happened nearly every other year. Better agronomy, optimized golf club sets, and a generation trained to attack have all contributed.

What does a round like this actually sound like? It’s mostly quiet. The galleries get hushed, almost reverent, after the fifth or sixth birdie in a row. The only constant noise is the firm click of pure iron shots and the soft plop of putts dropping dead-center. The player stops looking at the scoreboard. Everyone else can’t look away.

The 58, The 57, and Other Tour Records

Jim Furyk’s 58 is the PGA Tour’s ultimate scoring benchmark. He shot 27-31 at TPC River Highlands, a par-70, with an eagle and ten birdies. The round felt inevitable after he holed out for eagle on a par-4 early on. The significance is the margin. A 58 on a par-70 is 12-under. That’s not just beating the course; it’s humiliating it.

But the lowest score in a sanctioned event belongs to Cristobal Del Solar. On the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, he shot a 13-under 57 on a par-70 layout. That record, covered in detail by Golfweek’s pro golf 59 history, rewired what we thought was possible. A 57 requires a kind of unconscious, almost reckless, precision. It’s the difference between a great round and a statistical anomaly.

The part nobody mentions: These rounds almost always happen on courses with soft, receptive greens from prior rain. The player can fire at every pin without fear of the ball bouncing over the green. It’s a perfect storm of condition and execution.

Other major tours have their own members: * LPGA Tour: Annika Sorenstam, 2001 Standard Register Ping. Still the only one. * European Tour: Oliver Fisher, 2018 Portugal Masters. * LIV Golf: Bryson DeChambeau (58, 2023) and Joaquin Niemann (59, 2024).

The global nature of these scores is captured in the AP News global 59 list, which tracks sub-60 rounds from tours around the world. The club is small, but it’s international.

Anatomy of a 59: How It Actually Happens

Golfer's hands gripping a driver on the fairway for a precise tee shot.

Forget the myth of the perfect swing. A 59 is a logistics operation. It’s a day where every system—driving, approach play, putting—functions at 95% efficiency or better. There’s no room for a major miss.

First, driving accuracy is essential. You must play from the short grass nearly every hole to have the right angle and spin control into the green. This is where having confidence in your golf drivers is a baseline requirement, not a luxury. Second, proximity to the hole on approach shots shrinks. We’re talking an average of 15-20 feet, not 30. This requires golf shafts and golf grips that deliver consistent feel and release.

Finally, the putter must be a magic wand. You’ll make several birdie putts outside 15 feet, and you cannot three-putt. Not once. The mental stack is the real challenge. After the sixth birdie, you’re not playing the course anymore. You’re managing a legacy.

I learned that on the weekend rounds where I first got hooked. I once believed that more lag in the downswing was always better, until I saw it cause chronic early release for several players trying to force extra distance. On a day where you need 13 under, forcing anything is the killer. Simpler, repeatable movements win. The players who shoot 59 look bored doing it. That’s the feeling of total control.

Why a 59 With a Bogey Is Even More Impressive

Golfer's hands putting after a bogey on a 59 round scorecard

Only three times on the PGA Tour has a player shot 59 with a bogey on the card. Brandt Snedeker did it most recently in 2018. This, honestly, might be the most mentally tough version of the feat.

Think about the sequence. You make a mistake. You drop a shot. The dream seems dead. The arithmetic now requires you to be even more perfect with the holes you have left. The ability to reset, to immediately birdie the next hole, shows a psychological resilience that a bogey-free 59 doesn’t test. It’s the difference between a flawless performance and a gritty, recovered masterpiece. Snedeker’s round, which started with that bogey, is a masterclass in emotional resetting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was the first golfer to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour?

Al Geiberger was the first. He shot 59 in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club, earning the nickname “Mr. 59.” He had 11 birdies and an eagle on the par-72 course.

Has any woman shot 59 on the LPGA Tour?

Yes, but only one. Annika Sorenstam shot 59 in the second round of the 2001 Standard Register Ping tournament. It remains the lone sub-60 round in LPGA Tour history, a testament to its difficulty.

What is the lowest score ever shot in a professional golf tournament?

The lowest officially recognized score in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event is a 57, shot by Cristobal Del Solar on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024. The overall lowest recorded round is a 55 by Rhein Gibson in 2012, though not in a major tour event.

How many 59s have been shot on the PGA Tour?

There have been fifteen rounds of 59 on the PGA Tour. Combined with Jim Furyk’s 58, there are sixteen total sub-60 rounds in Tour history as of 2026.

Did Jim Furyk shoot 59 and 58?

Yes. Jim Furyk is the only golfer with two sub-60 rounds on the PGA Tour. He shot a 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship and the Tour’s only 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.

The Bottom Line

The 59 club is expanding, but it’s not diluting. The modern player, armed with advanced analytics, perfectly fit best golf club sets for intermediate players, and a bomb-and-gouge mentality, sees a scoreboard number where previous generations saw a myth. Yet the pressure of the final putt hasn’t changed a bit.

For the rest of us, the lesson is about the process: choosing the right best starter golf club sets to build a foundation, mastering how to grip a golf club correctly for consistency, and understanding that every great round is built one simple, repeatable shot at a time.The pros make history in bursts. We improve in increments. Both paths require the same thing: showing up and doing the work, without worrying about the arithmetic.