Open hopefuls go in pursuit of elusive 62 to break 37-year Majors’ record
WHEN Johnny Miller shot a closing 63 to win the 1973 US Open, it was to prove the beginning of a long-lasting legacy.
Since that day, not one player in any of the four Major championships has broken the magical 63 ?– giving players that little extra incentive to fire their way into the history books this weekend.
No fewer than 23 players have shot 63s in Majors, including seven in the Open – but none have gone better. But in these days of highly toned golfers and state-of-the-art equipment, surely it’s only a matter of time before the records go tumbling.
American Paul Goydos is the latest to show it can be done. He became only the fourth golfer to shoot a round of 59 on the US Tour last week, and he joins teenager Ryo Ishikawa in the fifties club after his magnificent 58 on the Japanese Tour earlier this season.
Of those to shoot 63 in a Major, only England’s Paul Broadhurst has done so at St Andrews, back in 1990, in what is still the only nine-under-par round in Open history.
ST ANDREWS OPEN WINNERS
1970 Jack Nicklaus (USA) (-5)
1978 Jack Nicklaus (USA) (-7)
1984 Seve Ballesteros (Spa) (-12)
1990 Nick Faldo (Eng) (-18)
1995 John Daly (USA) (-6)
2000 Tiger Woods (USA) (-19)
2005 Tiger Woods (USA) (-14)
OPEN RECORDS
Oldest winner: Old Tom Morris (46 years, 99 days) – 1867
Youngest winner: Young Tom Morris (17 years, 181 days) – 1868
Most victories: 6 – Harry Vardon (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914)
Lowest total: -19 – Tiger Woods, 2000, St Andrews (67, 66, 67, 69 = 269)
Biggest winning margin: 13 shots – Old Tom Morris – 1862 (from 36 holes)
Lowest round: 63 – (7 times – Mark Hayes 1977, Isao Aoki 1980, Greg Norman 1986, Paul Broadhurst 1990, Jodie Mudd 1991, Nick Faldo 1993, Payne Stewart 1993).