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Who owns the greatest round ever played?

IrishGolfer

Fac ut gaudeam
Supporting Member
Sep 1, 2004
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The thread about Jonny Miller got me thinking, who owns the best round of gold ever played?

Please submit who, what the score was, the tournament and why (ie the context).

Here's one to get going...

Jonny Miller shoots a 63 in the final round of the US Open on June 18 1973 Oakmont to win the title.

In all, he used his putter a hardly exceptional 29 times. The real difference, he claims, was a late decision to open his stance (align his feet to the left of his target) for the final round. Suddenly, he was firing almost every approach shot to within a few feet of the flag

"I mean, you just don't shoot 63 at Oakmont with 29 putts. I hit the 9th (then a par-five) green in two and every other green in regulation and I never had a downhill putt in 18 holes."

In all, Miller made nine birdies on that fateful day - including one at each of the opening four holes - and but one bogey. Only the 65 of the seventh-placed Lanny Wadkins came close and only four of the 65 competitors broke 70. The average score was 73.8, almost three over par.

"It was a round that pushed me to the forefront of the game," claims Miller, who went on to win the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale. "I pretty much took the ball and ran with it. I won a lot of tournaments in the next couple of years. But that day was the catalyst, it opened the flood gates."

A frenzy of birdies

June 18 1973 Oakmont US Open final round, par 71

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 5
Score 3 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 4

Out 32

Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4
Score 4 3 4 2 4 3 3 4 4
In 31

Total 63

Obvious other contenders

Nicklaus US Masters back nine charge
Woods US Open 2008 - superhuman efforts
Norman The Open at Turnberry
Quimet. US Open playoff - beating Vardon and Ray as an Amateur.
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Eat your heart out Tiger Woods! Stand aside David Duval and Annika Sörenstam! Wake up, Guinness Book of World Records!

Your money, your victories, even your 59's, do not come close to matching the inexplicably unsung exploit of a modest little man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK): the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il.

AnyoneforTee believes it is time to set the record straight and give full credit to a man who played a par 72 course in just 34 strokes.

And before you say "Impossible, he can only have played nine holes", beware!

awww.anyonefortee.com_Shots_Pix_Duval_shades.jpg
No lesser authority than Pyongyang Golf Club's resident professional, Park Young Man, together with Kim's 17 armed bodyguards, can attest that Kim played the full eighteen, all holed out, off the back tees on a crisp autumn morning in October 1994. "He is an excellent golfer," said Mr. Park.

Standing on the tee of the 340-meter (370-yard) dogleg par four first hole at Pyongyang GC, Park noted that "Dear Leader Comrade General Kim Jong-Il, whom I respect from the bottom of my heart, scored two on this hole." But there was even better to come, as Kim's amazing round included a world record five holes in one!

But, we hear you ask, how does a man with a country to run, a 1.2 million man army to command and 22 million people to keep on the verge of starvation, find the time to work at his golf game? Answer - he doesn't!

awww.anyonefortee.com_Shots_Pix_Athletic.JPG
The Dear Leader, faithful to the national philosophy of 'Juche', or self-reliance, has never had a lesson. Indeed, his heroic 38 under par score was his first and only round of golf! When he learned that this was a full 25 strokes better than any other human had ever achieved, far from being tempted to take the game up seriously, he decided that there were greater challenges to his intellect and atheletic ability, and has not touched a club since.
 
OP
IrishGolfer

IrishGolfer

Fac ut gaudeam
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Sep 1, 2004
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Sounds like a guy I occasionally play with. Golden E, just Golden!!
 

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
As much as I can't stand Miller's condescention, I have to agree that given the circumstances, it was "the greatest round".
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Then Palmer began one of golf's great rounds. His first shot was fantastic: a drive that carried the green 346 yds. away. He putted for a birdie. On the second, he pulled off another astonishing shot: a 30-ft. chip into the cup for a birdie. "I really felt then I was on my way." he said later. On the third, his second shot stopped a yard from the pin to set up another birdie. On the fourth, he canned a twisting 20-ft. putt—for his fourth straight birdie. He parred the fifth, then sank a 25-ft. putt on the sixth and a 6-footer on the seventh for birdies, finished the first nine in five under par. Around the course the word passed with electric swiftness: "Palmer made the turn in 30."

The next nine holes were decisive. Hitting with full power, Palmer reached the green on the 563-yd. eleventh hole in two shots, holed out in two putts for another birdie to go four under par for the tournament. With Souchak fading fast, the Open turned into a frantic, four-way fight between Palmer, Jack Fleck, 38, the 1958 winner, Jack Nicklaus. 20, the husky U.S. Amateur champion, and a fagged-out Ben Hogan, 47, gallantly trying for his fifth victory in the event.

Pressure Cooker. Certain that his three rivals knew of his tremendous rally. Palmer coolly switched to a conservative brand of golf and waited for the pressure to do its work. One by one. Palmer's competitors cracked. Saddest sight of all was the collapse of Hogan. Tied with Palmer at four under par going into the last two holes, Hogan landed in the water on the 1 7th for a bogey. On the 18th, the old mechanical man made a pitiable mechanical mistake: he lifted his head on a putt, topped the ball and suffered a triple-bogey 7 that shoved him back to even par. Playing with calm assurance. Palmer drove with an iron for safety's sake on the 18th, but the ball still carried 265 yds. From 80 ft. off the green, he chipped within a yard of the cup to set up the final putt.

Palmer's comeback, giving him a 280 total, and the title by two strokes over Nicklaus, was the most spectacular ever staged in the Open. By winning, he earned $14,400, boosted his total winnings this year to $66,600, and became the heavy favorite to complete his sweep of golfing's major titles this summer—in the British Open and the P.G.A. championship.
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
I believe 59 is the lowest score shot only about 3 times? But can't remember who the "shooters" were.... :)

Geiberger, Beck, Duval ( and Sorenstam ).

Duval's was the cream of that crop, coming on Sunday to win, but I don't think it stands up to Miller's round, or even Palmer's.
 

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
Supporting Member
Oct 18, 2006
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I forgot!
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Not a real TW fan. Yet, the Sunday... and to some extent Monday... U.S. Open rounds this year were pretty grueling.

Annika's 59. No lady had come even close to a 59 at that time. And, the resulting leap into her caddy's arms was classic!!!!

May have to give some credit to Frazier at this year's Q-school. How in the world can these players go out and shoot 5 rounds... 5 consecutive days... in the 60's to even be competitive. Then, to have a 59 carded under that pressure......

Didn't Venturi have a U.S. Open where the heat was taking its toll on all the players... and he was "zoned in", came from way back, and won? Thought I remembered something about him finishing 18 and collapsing.

As a team, the U.S. Ryder cup's Sunday rounds this year.

This is a great game with some memorable rounds. As we close out this season and dream the dreams of next year.... I'm going to see if the North Korean leader, as narrated by Eracer, is available for lessons. Surely, he's got some pointers that would improve my game!!!!!
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
limpalong said:
Not a real TW fan. Yet, the Sunday... and to some extent Monday...
U.S. Open rounds this year were pretty grueling.

Please... that is no better than 5th on the list of impressive limping golf rounds, behind a bunch that Hogan played a year after nearly dying.

wikipedia said:
This accident left Hogan with a double-fracture of the pelvis, a
fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and
near-fatal blood clots: he would suffer lifelong circulation problems
and other physical limitations. His doctors said he might never walk
again, let alone play golf competitively. He left the hospital on
April 1, 59 days after the accident.

But when
Ben Hogan shocked and amazed the golf world by returning to tournament
golf only 11 months after his accident, and, amazingly, took second
place in the 1950 Los Angeles Open after a playoff loss to Sam Snead,
he was cheered on by ecstatic fans. "His legs simply were not strong
enough to carry his heart any longer", famed sportswriter Grantland
Rice said of Hogan's near-miss. However, he proved to his critics (and
to himself, especially) that he could still win by completing his
famous comeback five months later, defeating Lloyd Mangrum and George
Fazio in an 18-hole playoff at Merion Golf Club to win his second U.S.
Open Championship.
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Please... that is no better than 5th on the list of impressive limping golf rounds, behind a bunch that Hogan played a year after nearly dying.
As much as I was in awe of Tiger's US Open performance this year...

As much as I have a man-crush on the guy...

As much as I think anyone who doesn't think he's the greatest golfer ever is a loser...

I have to (kind of) agree with David on this one.

Babe Zaharias, her body riddled with cancer, winning the Ladies Open.
Ken Venturi, nearly collapsing from heat exhaustion and winning.
Hogan - the most improbable victory ever (except for the fact that he was the 2nd greatest golfer of all time.

I'd put Tiger's 4th.
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
Eracer said:
As much as I think anyone who doesn't think he's the greatest golfer
ever is a loser...

Well, you can have your opinion I guess. I'll take facts. For example, over a 17 year period, Hogan played 31 Majors... and recorded 30 Top 10s. The lone exception being a match-play PGA round of 64 exit. That period of dominance *includes* his near-fatal car crash. In other words, he nearly died, and still never finished outside the top 10.

For comparison, Woods is currently on a 7 of 8 streak, so if he keeps that up for another six years, we can start to compare his dominance to Hogan's. Even that'd be unfair to Hogan, though, ignoring the time he missed due to the war, and crash.

Really the only way to come to the conclusion that Woods is the greatest is to choose an artificial metric like 'money earned'.
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Well, you can have your opinion I guess. I'll take facts. For example, over a 17 year period, Hogan played 31 Majors... and recorded 30 Top 10s. The lone exception being a match-play PGA round of 64 exit. That period of dominance *includes* his near-fatal car crash. In other words, he nearly died, and still never finished outside the top 10.

For comparison, Woods is currently on a 7 of 8 streak, so if he keeps that up for another six years, we can start to compare his dominance to Hogan's. Even that'd be unfair to Hogan, though, ignoring the time he missed due to the war, and crash.

Really the only way to come to the conclusion that Woods is the greatest is to choose an artificial metric like 'money earned'.
How about, "I can't prove it, but I firmly believe that Tiger would simply embarass Mr. Hogan on any of today's modern major courses."
And I have great respect for Ben Hogan.

And I really don't want to start up the whole "Good, Better, Best" argument again. (Especially with the other dave lurking around...lol)
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
Why does Sorenstam get a parentheses? A 59 is a 59, Dude.

The previous poster couldn't remember "the three" golfers with 59s, clearing referring to PGA play ( it'd be five if you counted Q-school, for example ).

That said, a 59 from the ladies' tees is easier. Not easy, but easier. I'm not a big fan of patronizing women by insinuating that they can't compete with men, and that's what the LPGA ( and many other women's sports ) does. There's no reason why Sorenstam needs a handicap that, say, Corey Pavin doesn't need. Heck, physically, Ben Hogan would fit right in on the LPGA Tour.
 

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