Jan 18, 2017: A week after winning the limited Tournament of Champions, Justin Thomas (JT) put pedal to metal, sweeping the Hawaii swing with a seven-shot win at the Sony Open. He set up his sweeping victory with a 59 in the opening round.
The first round score of 59, nearly sacrosanct at one stage, is under constant attack.
When Al Geiberger stepped up on the tee for the 2nd round of the Memphis Open in 1977, low rounds were not uncommon. Johnny Miller made a mockery of Oakmont on his way to a 63 to snatch the Open back in ’73.
The course Geiberger was playing on was Ben Hogan’s home turf – Colonial CC. He hit every green and fairway, needing only 23 putts to record the first 59 in the history of the tour.
Before JT there was a host of others shooting the magical number. 20 rounds of 59 or better (58 has been shot thrice.) What is alarming is the regularity with which golfers are shooting the number today.
Before the turn of the century, there were only five rounds recorded which included Geiberger, Chip Beck(Las Vegas), Notah Begay III, Doug Dunakey(both on the then Nike Tour – today called the Web.Com Tour) and of course David Duval‘s frantic fist pump eagle on the last hole of the 1999 Bob Hope.
Post 2000, the numbers are staggering – fifteen sub-60 scores including all the three mentioned 58s! All this without taking note of the unofficially posted 59s/58s in Q-school or silly season tournaments.
The reason for this boom in scoring can be two-fold. The first is the changing mentality. Young guys like JT are fearless. Everyone wants to come out and make more birdies. Your brain has to be hardwired to go for the flag no matter where the pin is.
No hesitation, when the low number starts rolling – you get into golf’s version of a trance. In the zone they call it – where the fairway looks wider and the hole bigger with every passing hour.
The second reason which is the focal point of this essay – the equipment. Gone are the days when Geiberger used Spalding irons with a sweet spot no larger that a dime to shoot his magical number. Thick oversized cavities and graphite shafts are the name of the game today.
What began with the hickory was put on steroids come the 90s. By the time Duval was eagling the 18th at the PGA West course in California, technology had dramatically changed. There is a plaque on the last hole marking the spot where he hit his approach from a 212 yards with a 5-iron to set up his 59. Today, for most pros that would mean a 7-iron.
The other aspect of equipment is the golf ball. It is interesting here to note that the equipment sold to the public is entirely different from the clubs sold to the pros. Every pro is fitted according to a million parameters from Driver to Putter.
There was a time when one would play a “larger” ball in America and a “smaller” ball in Europe because the USGA and R&A could not come to common ground on the size of the golf ball. This was agreed on finally in the year 1990 at 1.68 inches in diameter.
When the old pros would play the British Open, they would all unanimously switch to the “smaller ball.” Easier to control in the wind, and went farther. Today, choosing a golf ball is essentially a trade off between distance and spin.
Titleist’s innovations with the ProV ball in the late 90s has sent the industry into an obsessive desire to reduce side-spin and increase the length of the golfer in question. Who even intentionally bends the ball on tour nowadays save Bubba Watson or Corey Pavin?
Where does this leave the sport? In jeopardy. Distance wasn’t meant to be the great leveller. It could be argued that most of the guys who broke 60 weren’t exactly big hitters, using precision to steer their shots. Why has the number then become so commonplace?
In the same week Chez Reavie and Zach Johnson came close too – shooting a matching pair of 61’s, till Kevin Kisner came home with a 60. Low scores are fun, are they fun all the time? Don’t think so.
By Aman Misra from Symbiosis
