Goydos, with only two victories in his 18 years on the PGA Tour, became only the fourth player in tour history to shoot a 59 with a magical opening round at the John Deere Classic on Thursday.
His tee shots found the middle of the fairway. His approaches stuck on the green. And, most importantly, his putts found the middle of the cup over and over again.And, by simple good fortune, I was there as a spectator, watching every shot for all 18 holes.
It was the first 59 on the tour since David Duval's memorable final round helped him win the 1999 Bob Hope Classic....
Goydos is the first to shoot 59 on a par 71. The others came on par 72s....Cliff is my nephew, which is why I was there today (in Silvis, Illinois).
Goydos birdied every hole on the back nine except for No. 15, where he holed a 6-foot par putt to keep alive his hopes. He finished off with three birdies, the last one from 7 feet to join the most exclusive club in golf....
"It's almost a mythical number in our game," Goydos said. "I've gone from clubbing a ball in the backyard all the way to the moon, and missed all the steps in between."
Like pitching a no-hitter in baseball, right?
"Closer to a perfect game," said Cliff Kresge, one of Goydos' playing partners.
ADDED: Tee time for the threesome was 7:09 A.M. and Meade and I were 2 of 4 persons who were watching at that point. The crowd grew toward the end as word got around, but the 4 of us were the only spectators who saw every shot. That was pretty cool!
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Wow that it happened. Double wow that you saw it unfold (if I read correctly.)
Yes, we were there at 7:09 a.m. for the tee off on the first hole, and we walked the entire course with that threesome. We saw every single one of the 59 shots that Goydos took -- as well as every one of the 66 shots that Jonathan Byrd took and the 67 that my nephew Kresge took.
It's funny, Byrd and Kresge birdied the first hole and Goydos only made par. At that point, I thought Goydos is going to be the worst of the group!
How did Kresge do?
Plus it's better than a perfect game, of which there have been many. It's like hitting .400, not achieved in the Big Leagues since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.
You are a very good aunt.
Sorry--you posted Kresge's comment while I was away.
"score"
. . . time for a nap
I am lucky to shoot 59 in miniature golf!
This is a Big F***ing Deal.
(Even though it isn't quite in the same stupendous class as a 59 on a Par 72. It's almost like hitting .400 by sitting out the last at-bats, which Ted, to his immortal credit, refused to do).
Just about every golfer has a run of a few holes where we're playing way over our heads and everything seems easy, and then bitter reality returns. Props to Goydos for brilliantly describing his experience: I've gone from clubbing a ball in the backyard all the way to the moon, and missed all the steps in between
It's so cool you were there.
Goydos birdied 8 of the last 9 holes.
Congrats.
shoutingthomas said...
"Congrats."
Aw shucks, thanks! But it wasn't ALL our doing.
But seriously... it was way cool being there.
Mostly, just showing up, is the absolute best thing that you can do. It's an event, a sporting event, and cheering for your team is always a good time. Whatever the outcome.
Very cool.
You could spend the rest of your life being a PGA tour groupie and never see anything like it again.
Not to seem all stalker, but were you wearing a white, sleeveless blouse?
cool - it's rare to see anything resembling "history", especially "good" history. And you're related to boot.
The only "sports history" thing I've been personally party to was being in the outfield bleachers at Candlestick Park during the 1989 earthquake...
My one and only sports history moment is not a good one. My son and I got to see Kirby Puckett hit by a pitch in 1995. It was his last official plate appearance.
Meanwhile, Cheesehead Madisonian Steve Stricker shot a 60!!
There's a great golf story where someone asks Ben Hogan how to score lower.
Ben's answer was, "Trying hitting it closer to the hole."
yeah, I heard the conditions were near perfect today. Very cool to see, I agree. The closest I got was following it online (love that Shot Tracker). Good luck to Goydos and Stricker the rest of the weekend, but a little somethin' extra for Steve.
How about that sports fans! The professor has gotten to see how easy golf can be. Just hit it straight once or twice and then roll the ball straight into the hole...nothing could be easier. The next time Amazon puts golf clubs on sale, we can expect to see Ann's pink bag and pink medal woods new set. Before we know it she will be golfing with El Rushbo, and I bet she beats him.
Noooooooonan!
NOONAN!
--Judge Smails
Was about to ask if Ann had a job, then remembered it's July 8.
PGA tour golf gets exciting to watch. You are there as the player you have followed hits the perfect shot that stuns the crowd. I can still "feel" the sights and sounds of Jerry Pate's "shot heard round the world" on the 18th in the 1976 U S Open in Atlanta. It was a 5 iron hit 200 yards over a lake, hit off a side hill lie, that cleared the water by 10 feet and landed 5 feet from the hole. We had been following Nicklaus most of the day, but the last two holes on Sunday were Jerry Pate's miracle. I was standing 20 feet from Pate when he hit it. The cheering was deafening for 5 minutes as he walked up to the green. He putted out and celebrated by jumping into the Lake, but after all he was from Alabama.
Reminds me of the only time I saw the Divine Miss A...when she came and sat in the stands at the 18th green at Milwaukee a few years ago following her nephew...thought about a shout out to her, but left her to her privacy.
BTW...Stricker only one shot behind!
Truthfully, I kick ass in miniature golf- always beat par by a mile. But I never shot 59 in just nine holes of regulation golf!
I hope Dell was there too to see it. How very excellent for you and Meade though! Wow!
One thing I'm curious about -- how long does it take pros to play 18 holes? If they started at 7:09 -- were they done by 11?
Big deal.
Kim Jong-il regularly shoots 18 for an entire round! Best golfer ever.
pretty cool!
There's a great golf story where someone asks Ben Hogan how to score lower.
That reminds me of Les Nessman talking about Chi Chi Rodriguez (or Chai Chai ROD we gez, as he said) and then of Chi Chi saying that the harder he practices, the luckier he gets. Which may not be something he said at all because I can't find it in the google and if it's not in the google, it didn't happen. But I thought I had heard that attributed to Chi Chi.
Were their caddies wearing shorts?
I once played Olympic with a random guy who happened to shoot 69-- it was more fun watching him play than hitting my own 100 or so.
That is really neat.
"Were their caddies wearing shorts?"
Yes. All the caddies are wearing shorts and all the players are wearing long pants.
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