NORTON, Mass. (AP) — It took a disappointing par for Scottie Scheffler to appreciate he was making sufficient birdies to have a shot at 59, and he seized on the prospect Friday with 4 birdies over his final 5 holes to put up the 12th sub-60 spherical in PGA Tour historical past.
For the longest time, it regarded like his 59 won’t even be one of the best of the day at The Northern Belief.
As Scheffler was signing his card, Dustin Johnson had already set off on an explosive begin that put some buzz into the TPC Boston even with none spectators on the course.
Birdie. Eagle. Birdie. Eagle. Birdie.
He was 9 below by way of eight holes, and with two birdies to start out the again 9, Johnson was 11 below by way of 11 holes.
After which he became a par machine, with solely two attractiveness at birdie the remainder of the best way, and one choice he’d wish to have again. Johnson hit driver on the par-5 18th right into a slope of grungy grass, when a Three-wood was all he would have wanted to have a mid-iron into the inexperienced. He needed to lay up, hit wedge to 25 ft and two-putted for a seventh straight par.
Johnson shot a 60, had a two-shot lead, and it virtually felt as if condolences have been so as.
“If I hit the green there, it’s a reasonably simple four. However I didn’t, so shot 60,” Johnson stated. “That’s OK, although. I’m fairly pleased with it. Fairly pleased with my place main into the weekend.”
Johnson was at 15-under 127, two photographs forward of Scheffler and Cameron Davis (66). Scheffler completed with two putts from throughout the 18th inexperienced for his 12th birdie, knocking in his final putt from four ft.
“You don’t actually get a putt for 59 typically, so I used to be fairly nervous over the putt, however that’s nothing new,” Scheffler stated. “I get nervous over each shot. That’s simply enjoying aggressive golf.”
Not because the John Deere Traditional in 2010 have two gamers had 60 or decrease on the identical day. That contributed to Tiger Woods feeling irritated by his pedestrian 71 that allowed him to make the lower on the quantity and left him 12 photographs again.
“I simply didn’t fairly have it,” Woods stated. “I used to be near snapping a pair golf equipment immediately, however I didn’t, in order that’s a optimistic.”
Scheffler, the sleek 24-year-old rookie from Texas, didn’t do hardly something incorrect. Two good wedges from robust spots across the inexperienced arrange birdies early, and he saved pouring them in. That included a 6-foot par putt on the 17th gap that arrange the birdie he wanted for a 59.
On the 18th, his tee shot hopped out of the tough and into the primary lower. From 215 yards, he properly aimed towards the left part of the inexperienced, hit 5-iron simply quick and had two putts from 85 ft for a 59. He rolled the lengthy eagle try about four ft quick, went over to his bag for a swig of water whereas ready his flip, and calmly rolled it in.
Scheffler was attempting to make as many birdies as potential. It was solely after he missed a 10-foot birdie likelihood on the 13th that he started to appreciate what he was doing.
“I used to be like, ‘Oh, man, that might have been a pleasant one to go in’ as a result of I used to be enjoying actually good at that time,” he stated. “Sort of clicked like, ‘Hey, I’ve an opportunity to do one thing fairly cool immediately.’”
That makes 5 straight years with a 59 or higher on the PGA Tour.
This stood out because the 59 that generated the least quantity of pleasure, not on a spectator-free course with no scoreboards within the teams. Scheffler performed with Kevin Streelman and Tony Finau, and solely one in every of them knew what was occurring.
“We don’t have the signal bearers, so I introduced it as much as Tony on 17 inexperienced, and he had no thought,” Streelman stated. “He thought it was 7 or eight (below) and I’m like, ‘No, he’s like 11 proper now.’ That’s the distinction. There would positively have been electrical energy, followers operating in. He nonetheless had the strain to step up there on 18 and make that good up-and-down, and he performed superior.
“He performed good golf immediately.”
So did Johnson. He made it look really easy that Marc Leishman, enjoying in his group, beginning questioning concerning the lowest rating anybody ever shot. “A 59 didn’t even seem to be a query,” Leishman stated.
Johnson holed a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 2. He hit driver to four ft for eagle on No. four. The remainder of his birdie putts have been in vary, principally from 12 ft or nearer. And he saved making them, till the birdies dried up rapidly.
Johnson missed a 12-footer on the 13th and a 10-footer on the 17th. After which he didn’t make birdie on the final gap, the simplest of the day on the TPC Boston.
A 59 is now not the report — Furyk shot 58 on the Vacationers Championship in 2016 — however it’s nonetheless thought-about golf’s magic quantity. It was the second time Scheffler shot 59 this 12 months. He additionally had one throughout with pals in Dallas when the tour shut down for 3 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson must wait.
“I wished to shoot 59. I’ve by no means completed it,” he stated.
By no means?
“Not that I keep in mind,” Johnson stated, breaking right into a smile earlier than including, “And I feel I’d do not forget that.”
In the meantime, the FedEx Cup playoffs ended early for some two dozen gamers who missed the lower and have been assured of not making the highest 70 who advance to the BMW Championship subsequent week. That features Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, who withdrew earlier than the event started.