Cameron Young posts 59 for lowest score on PGA Tour in four years

Cameron Young made a par putt from just inside 10 feet on Saturday for an 11-under 59 in the Travelers Championship, the first under-60 round on the PGA Tour in nearly four years.

Young made two eagles on par 4s, holed out with a wedge from 142 yards on the third hole and drove the 280-yard 15th hole to within four feet.

It was the 13th sub-60 round since Al Geiberger first threw golf’s “magic number” at the 1977 Memphis Classic. Scottie Scheffler was the most recent at the 2020 TPC Boston at The Northern Trust.

“I can’t say I expected it,” Young said. “I played better than the results showed. When I woke up this morning, I didn’t really think I would be five through four. It was a lot of fun to do.”

This didn’t even earn Young the honor of holding the course record at the TPC River Highlands. Jim Furyk shot a 58 at the Travelers Championship in 2016, the lowest round in PGA Tour history.

Jordan Spieth became a footnote in history as the only PGA Tour player to play twice with someone who shot 59. Spieth was also in the group with Justin Thomas when he shot 59 in the opening round of the 2017 Sony Open.

Young was able to lift his golf ball, clean it and place it in the short grass due to the boggy course conditions and the potential for more rain.

He could have gone even lower. After his eagle on the 15th hole, Young hit his tee shot to eight feet on the par-3 16th and missed the short birdie putt. On the final hole, which needed a birdie to tie Furyk’s record, his drive stalled on the steep side of a fairway bunker and Young couldn’t get it onto the green.

He still made seventh-round par of 59 or lower on tours around the world this year.

“To have a day like today where things come in and it feels like you’re being rewarded for good shots, it puts a good taste in my mouth,” Young said.

He finished at 13 under par and tied with Tom Kim, who watched part of Young’s round on a video screen on the practice range as Kim prepared to start his third round. Young had one of six rounds at 64 or better before the leaders bowed out.

The other six rounds at 59 or lower this year include Joaquin Niemann on LIV Golf and a record 57 by Cristobal del Solar on the Korn Ferry Tour in Bogota, Colombia.