Tiger Woods has never done it, nor Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Ben Hogan.
On Saturday, Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin achieved what those golf legends never have – shoot a 59 on a PGA tour stop.
Hadwin joined elite company in the golfing world after a spectacular day at the PGA’s CareerBuilder Challenge at the La Quinta Country Club on Saturday.
The Ledgeview Golf and Country Club product collected 13 birdies to become just the eighth player in PGA Tour history to shoot below 60.
He’s the only Canadian to enter the ’59 club,’ and joins players Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos, Stuart Appleby, Jim Furyk and Justin Thomas as the only golfers in the PGA’s 101-year history to shoot a 59.
The 13 birdies ties the PGA Tour’s all-time single-round birdie record, as Hadwin equalled the mark set by Chip Beck in 1991.
Hadwin said he was feeling it all day on Saturday.
“I think everybody talks about kind of they were in a zone and I think that’s kind of what happened,” he said. “I was thinking about it. I knew exactly where I was. I knew exactly what I needed to do. It just didn’t seem to matter.”
Under immense pressure, he shot a birdie on the 17th hole and then shot a par on the 18th to reach the score.
“Last thing I wanted to do was miss a three-footer for 59,” Hadwin said. “So, I was more relieved than anything walking off that green.”
Despite the low score on Saturday, Hadwin came up a little short on Sunday at the event to finish second overall. The showing was the best in Hadwin’s PGA career. He lost by one stroke to American Hudson Swafford, who shot a -20 over the 72 holes. Hadwin shot a combined 268 (71, 69, 59 and 70) for the event.
I can’t help but be slightly disappointed,” Hadwin told reporters after his round. “I really wanted to come out here and kind of prove that yesterday was just kind of a continuation of some good play and kind of get it done today, but I got beat.
“I felt like I did all the right things. Just a couple shots here and there and who knows what could have happened. But an incredible week, my best finish ever.”
He earned $626,400 for the second-place finish.
Hadwin next hits the links at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, which runs from Friday to Sunday. He remains in California for PGA events for the next three weekends.
