SILVIS, Ill. — After four months of pretty lousy play on the PGA Tour, Paul Goydos managed to turn things around just a bit — he shot a 59.
Out of nowhere.
“Today was a nuclear bomb,” Goydos said. “I don’t know where it came from. If I knew that, I wouldn’t be able to touch it.”
Perhaps just as amazing, Goydos held only a one-stroke lead Thursday after an incredible opening round at the John Deere Classic.
Defending champion Steve Stricker shot a 60, making for the two lowest scores ever in a single round at a PGA Tour event. And he just missed tying Goydos on the last hole.
With the par-71 TPC Deere Run course softened by three days of intermittent rain, golfers were expected to go low. But the fourth 59 in tour history and then a 60 on the same day? No one could have expected that.
“You’re 12 back before you even step on the first tee. That’s tough to swallow,” Stricker said. “That’s why you’ve got to get into a little different thought process and chip away. The course is ripe for scoring.”
Michael Letzig, Matt Jones, Aaron Baddeley and James Nitties all finished at 7-under 64. Jay Williamson, Daniel Chopra, Scott McCarron and Charley Hoffman had 65s.
All paled in comparison with Goydos’ stunning 59.
He has missed almost has many cuts as he’s made this year. He hasn’t had a top-40 finish since early May. He led the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February by a stroke with five holes to play, only to tumble out of contention.
“I’ve been very good at playing poorly now for the last 10 tournaments or so,” Goydos said.
Not anymore.
His tee shots found the middle of the fairway. His approaches stuck on the green. And, most important, his putts found the middle of the cup again and again.
Stricker’s almost did too.
His second shot on the par-4 18th bounced on the green and appeared to be heading for the cup. But it curled around at the last second, leaving him an easy 2-footer for the 11th birdie in his bogey-free round.
Stricker kept alive his hopes of catching Goydos by salvaging par on No. 14 after hitting into a bunker left of the green. After another par on 15, he closed with three straight birdies.
Goydos, who hasn’t won on the tour since 2007 and has just two victories overall, needed just 22 putts to dominate the soggy course. The wet conditions allowed golfers to lift, clean and place their ball on the fairway.
It was the first 59 on the tour since David Duval’s memorable final round helped him win the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.
Al Geiberger was the first to shoot 59, in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club. Chip Beck shot his 59 in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational at Sunrise Golf Course.
Goydos is the first to shoot 59 on a par 71. The others came on par 72s.
Duval finished with a 67 Thursday, while he and everyone else talked about Goydos’ amazing round.
“You have to hit shots, you have to hit putts,” Duval said. “Regardless of where it’s done or who does it, it’s amazing.”
Goydos birdied every hole on the back nine except for No. 15, where he holed a 6-foot par putt to keep a sub-60 in sight. He finished off with three birdies, the last one from 7 feet to join the most exclusive club in golf.
Goydos raised his putter to a roar from the crowd when his 59th shot fell into the cup and he high-fived his way to the clubhouse.
“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.”
Goydos’ 8-under 28 on the back nine matched the lowest nine-hole score in relation to par on the PGA Tour, last achieved by Corey Pavin, who had an 8-under 26 in the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
“Standing over that last putt, I was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt in my life,” he said. “When I look back and I’m not playing anymore . . . I’ve got 10 holes-in-one. I’ve got three double-eagles. Fifty-nine is one of those things I’m going to look at and say, ‘That’s pretty cool.’ “
