Rose just misses magical 59 at Funai Classic
Justin Rose missed a magical 59 by one shot as he pulled a 14-foot birdie putt at the final hole of the Palm course, settling for a par and a stellar 12-under-par 60 in the first round of the Funai Classic at Walt Disney World.
Looking for his first career PGA Tour win, the 26-year-old Englishman claimed the course record and a four-shot lead over Richard Johnson.
The only players to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour event are Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis Classic), Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas Invitational) and David Duval (1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic).
Phil Mickelson did it in the 2004 Grand Slam of Golf – an unofficial event - and Annika Sorenstam did it on the LPGA Tour in 2001.
Although it was easily the best round of his career, Rose acknowledged he may never get a better chance to break 60.
“You know 59 is a huge number and you never know if you’ll ever get that chance again,” he said. “I did everything right to shoot 59. I made two great swings on the last hole. I just set my putt up left edge and pulled it.”
As consolation, Rose enjoyed the largest first-round lead on tour since 1997, with Johnson alone at 8-under 64, also on the Palm. Five others shot 67, although only Charles Howell played the Magnolia, the tougher of the two courses used for the event.
“There’s no doubt the course is there for the taking (but) other than playing really, really well, I didn’t really have an inkling that that was around the corner,” Rose said. “I kept giving myself lots of chances – hitting all the par-5s in two. I wasn’t making a crazy amount of putts out there. It kept me feeling comfortable.”
“It would have been cool to see him get to the magic number,”
Howell said. “A 60 is talked about for a couple of weeks, a 59 forever.”
Superb iron play was the key to Rose’s round. Six of his 12 birdies were virtual tap-ins, and he holed only two putts from outside 15 feet. He missed only one green in regulation and never was in danger of dropping a shot.
Rose did not start thinking about a 59 until he got to 10-under after 12 holes. He birdied the par-5 14th to go 11-under, only to miss a five-foot birdie try at the 16th.
However, he put that out of his mind to birdie the par-4 17th from the same distance and went to the par-4 18th knowing another birdie would match the best score in tour history.
A perfect 3-wood split the fairway and a smooth 6-iron approach covered the pin the entire way. It landed less than a foot from the hole and although it trickled further away than he would have liked, it was not a difficult putt.
His amateur partner holed out on a similar line, showing Rose that there was hardly any break. With a half-dozen TV cameras and more still photographers focused on him, Rose took two practice strokes before hitting perhaps his worst putt all day.
It never even scared the hole and was left all the way.
“Sometimes straight putts are the hardest,” he said.
Rose let out a wry smile, cleaned up for par and acknowledged the small gathering of less than 100 spectators.
“All I wanted to do was have a putt to shoot 59, and I did that,” he said. “I missed one at 16 which I could have dwelt upon, but I reset the dial and made a great birdie on 17 to set up a chance.”
Now, Rose’s challenge is to refocus for the next three rounds and post his first tour victory.
“It’s a good start to the tournament,” he said. “I’m not dwelling on anything.”
