[Photo: Andrew Wevers]<\/p>\n
Is the \u201c59 Watch\u201d dead? Should we no longer be refreshing our phones to follow who in pro golf is on the verge of reaching what has been the game\u2019s mystical number for 49 years?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s beginning to feel that way after three 59s were scored in PGA Tour-sanctioned events in the past eight days. First came Scott Stevens, who shot an 11-under 59 on July 24 in the first round of the PGA Tour Americas\u2019 Osprey Valley Open in Caledon, Ontario. One day later, on the PGA Tour, Michael Kim made a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole to score 12-under 59 at the 3M Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, Korn Ferry Tour rookie Chris Francoeur has completed the treble by firing an 11-under 59 in the second round of the tour\u2019s Utah Championship at Ogden Golf & Country Club. After starting with a birdie on his opening hole, the 10th, the 27-year-old from Massachusetts made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of the round. He then went birdie-eagle-birdie at holes three to five and had birdie chances on the last four holes to go much lower before ending at 59.<\/p>\n This scorching run of 59s is remarkable, and to put it into perspective, there were three scored in the previous two seasons on the PGA Tour, and three on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025.<\/p>\n After Al Geiberger notched the first 59 in PGA Tour history in 1977, it was 14 years before Chip Beck became the second to do so. Eight more years passed before David Duval, and then another 11 years went by for Paul Goydos to pull it off. That\u2019s four 59s in 33 years.<\/p>\n But over the past 16 years, reaching 59 has been far more common, yet still impressive, of course. Eleven players have shot 59 since 2013, and Jim Furyk became the only man to go sub-60 twice. He knocked the magic number down by one with his 12-under 58 in the Travelers Championship in 2016.<\/p>\n On the KFT, the all-time low score is the 13-under 57 shot by Cristobal Del Solar in the 2024 Astara Golf Championship in Colombia. There have been 16 total sub-60s rounds on the developmental tour. On the Americas, Stevens\u2019 59 was the fifth on that circuit.<\/p>\n Curiously, only one 59 has ever been shot on the DP World Tour \u2013 by Oliver Fisher in the 2018 Portugal Masters.<\/p>\n We can look at Francoeur and wonder: can anybody shoot 59 now? He is, after all, a mildly decorated golfer who played collegiately at the University of Rhode Island and is a PGA Tour Americas alum who\u2019s currently ranked 583rd in the world. This season, Francoeur\u2019s best finish on the KFT is T-29 in Knoxville.<\/p>\n But the guy has going low in his blood. As evidenced by his posts on X, in October 2022 while playing a casual round, Francoeur made 14 birdies and a bogey to shoot 58. And in another non-competitive round last June, he hit two shots in the water for bogeys but also had an eagle and made an albatross on the closing hole to score 59.<\/p>\n So something happened today\u2026 #58 #blackout<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2YZT7aPkaR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Francoeur (@chris_francoeur) October 17, 2022<\/a> <\/p>\n 2 water balls and a walk off albatross later\u2026 59 at Renaissance pic.twitter.com\/22ZwsvCsho<\/a><\/p>\n