Travelers Championship Recap: Furyk Makes History

Jim Furyk shot the first 58 in the history of PGA Tour at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.

In other news, Russell Knox won the Travelers Championship on Sunday.

There's really no bad time to win a golf tournament. But if there were, Knox managed to pull it off at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. It was an important win for Knox, one with potential Ryder Cup ramifications, but one that will soon be forgotten by anyone outside the Knox household. Furyk's accomplishment will be remembered forever more, or at last until someone shoots 57.

And good luck on that happening anytime soon.

There have been some 1.5 million rounds in PGA Tour history, six of them ending with 59. The first one was recorded by Al Geiberger at the 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, and the sixth by Furyk himself in at the 2013 BMW Championship.

That got us thinking: What is the worst round in PGA Tour history? There are no definitive records, but at the 1974 Tallahassee Open, a decent pro named Mike Reasor shot 123 and 114 on the weekend. Now, there's a big asterisk there, because Reasor was injured horseback riding between the second and third rounds and, according to the New York Times, he separated his left shoulder, tore rib cartilage and suffered knee ligament damage. Reasor wanted to play on, to remain eligible for the following week's event (as per tour rules back then), so he played with just a 5-iron and a one-armed swing. (Go ahead, you try to shoot 114 on the PGA Tour course. With all your clubs.)

Furyk's 58 also got us thinking: What's the worst score on one hole in PGA Tour history. You would think there would be some concrete information out there, but …

The internet says Tommy Armour shot a 23 on a par-5 at the 1927 Shawnee Open in Pennsylvania – a week after he won the U.S. Open. Elsewhere on the internet it says he really shot a 6-over 11. There's also some confusion about Ray Ainsley at the 1938 U.S. Open. The club pro either shot a 19 or a 19-over (for a 23) on a par-4. Another club pro, Hans Merrell, shot 19 at the Pebble Beach in 1959. So at the very least, 19 is the worst score ever recorded on one hole.

More recently, John Daly shot an 18 on the par-5 sixth at Bay Hill in 1998. That might be the worst score ever recorded by a touring pro. (Just two years before Daly's odyssey, Roy McAvoy famously shot a 12 on the 18th hole in "Tin Cup.")

While 58 is the best score ever recorded, Furyk's was a 12-under on the par-70 River Highlands track. Geiberger, Chip Beck (1991) and David Duval (1999) all shot 13-under on par-72s to record their 59s. Paul Goydos (2010) and Furyk (2013) shot their 59s on par-71s and Stuart Appleby (2010) did so on a par-70.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Russell Knox

At the beginning of the week, Knox, looked like someone who could contend for the title. River Highlands is among the shortest courses on the schedule, and the greens have never been all that hard. Knox doesn't hit the ball far and isn't a great putter (though he did sink a 12-footer for par on 18 to avoid a playoff). But the Scotsman is third on tour in greens in regulation, and that's a good skill on any track. Besides, Knox was 26th in the world coming in (now 18th), so he was doing something right. He's the fifth multiple winner on tour this season, joining Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott – all top-10 in the OWGR. And now Knox is very close to an automatic berth on the Ryder Cup team, though he's not quite there yet.

Jerry Kelly

Kelly went to college in nearby Hartford and will be eligible for the Champions Tour in a mere three months, so a victory would've been quite a story. But he fell a shot short. Still, it moved him well inside the top-125, to 75th, so Kelly will be around for at least two playoff events. He's always a low-priced consideration, someone who doesn't often contend but normally makes a lot of cuts. Kelly is back at this week at the John Deere Classic and, in one of the weakest fields of the season, should again at least be a lineup possibility.

Justin Thomas

Thomas picked a bad day to shoot a 62, but that's what he did on Sunday to tie for third ("Not often do you shoot 62 and get your butt handed to you," Thomas told reporters). It was his first top-10 in three months. Thomas was part of the well-documented Bahamas Brocation along with Rickie Fowler, Smylie Kaufman and Spieth, and none of them has played all that great since then. Having fun is one thing, but it made us wonder about their commitment to winning. Golfers get so much money for just being mediocre. Maybe Thomas is ready to push harder now.

Patrick Rodgers

Rodgers has been maddening for his owners/backers this season (we have firsthand knowledge of this, sigh). He tied Thomas for third – his first top-10 in all of 2016. Rodgers came out of Stanford last year as someone expected to immediately contend on tour. As we've now seen with Bryson DeChambeau, that's not so easy, even for the best amateurs. Some guys take longer to come around, and maybe that's what is happening with Rodgers. The T3 moved him to 66th in the point standings and 117th in the OWGR. He's also in the John Deere this week, another opportunity for a high finish.

Jim Furyk

In the non-life-altering ramifications of shooting 58, the Sunday surge moved Furyk to a tie for fifth in the tournament and to 102nd in the point standings. Having missed the first seven months of the season following wrist surgery, Furyk is now assured of reaching at least the first playoff event.

Daniel Berger

Berger led by three strokes entering Sunday but nose-dived to a 74 – that's almost a shot worse per hole than Furyk. He tied for fifth with Furyk, Robert Garrigus and Tyrone Van Aswegen. If you owned Berger – or even are Berger! – that meltdown was hard to take. But he's already won once this year and continues to impress, as much as any of the young guns not named Spieth.

Russell Henley

Henley has been maddening for his owners/backers this season (we have firsthand knowledge of this, sigh). Yet there he was on the back nine on Sunday with the lead after a birdie on No. 11. He then proceeded to bogey 12, 14 and 15 before a four-jack on the 16th green for a final-dagger double. That's a 39 on the back and not even a top-10 finish after being in the lead with eight holes to play. Henley has made the cut in only half of his 22 starts, though his four top-10s have him 80th in the point standings. Henley isn't in the field for the John Deere, which is good for his backers who are faint of heart.

Tyrrell Hatton

This guy is surprising us. On a weekly basis. It's one thing to finish second in the Scottish Open, but to follow that up with a T5 at the Open Championship is impressive, even for an Englishman. But then to come to the PGA Championship and tie for 10th and even after that tie for 17th at the Travelers? Baltusrol and River Highlands aren't exactly links courses, but Hatton is showing he has game for any track. The 24-year-old is now clearly on the radar of fantasy gamers, and also European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke, who has to give serious consideration to selecting this up-and-comer. Hatton is on the verge of cracking the top 50 in the world, and that potentially would open many more doors.

Wesley Bryan

Bryan on Sunday won the Digital Ally Open – what, you never heard of it? – his third Web.com Tour title of the season, earning an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour. The 26-year-old is eligible for the John Deere this week and the Wyndham the week after. It will be tough for him to crack the playoffs – Bryan would need to win one of those two events – but he's another young gun to consider in your lineups.

Miguel Angel Carballo

Carballo played alongside Furyk on Sunday. He almost ruined everything. The veteran Argentine wrote down a 3 for Furyk on the scorecard at the par-4 14th.. But that was one of the few holes Furyk didn't birdie – he parred it. Imagine signing an incorrect scorecard to nullify the lowest score in PGA Tour history? But the mistake was found before Furyk signed, thereby keeping Carballo from … who knows what kind of infamy/backlash? If you look closely, you can see the 3 erased:

Can you imagine? Furyk's playing partner, Miguel Carballo, accidentally wrote Jim's score wrong before fixing it. pic.twitter.com/w2S6gBHFVO

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 7, 2016