What I'll Remember about 2010: One unforgettable summer day

text size

Carroll/Getty Images

Paul Goydos poses with the ball he used on the front nine to shoot a 59 at the John Deere Classic.

PGATOUR.COM asked its staffers and freelancers what they will remember about the 2010 season. For the archived list of essays, click here.

July 8, 2010 began normal enough. It was a Thursday; the first round of the John Deere Classic was under way. My father turned 64 years old.

More Essays

• Click here for more essays • What will you remember?

And I wouldn't have much time to call him and give him grief. Looking back, I should have called him on the way to work. Old people wake up early anyway.

As the field teed off at TPC Deere Run, not many people were paying attention to Paul Goydos. Goydos couldn't have been too terribly fired up -- he'd arrived in the midst of an awful slump. He'd been AWOL since blowing the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a final-round 78 in February; he would break 70 just seven times in his next 37 rounds.

In short, he was about the last guy one would expect to fire a 59 in the first round.

When working on a golf website, 59 is a big deal. It had only been done three times in history, and there are several tournaments a year where you watch out for it. The Bob Hope Classic. Ok, so maybe one. The John Deere Classic simply wasn't one where you expected it. Oh, that place is good for a couple of 62s a year, but a lot of guys do that.

In the course of a PGA TOUR season, there are a bunch of times where someone will start out 8, 9 under after 12 holes. The 59 watch starts, and usually for no good reason. The putts stop dropping, the pars start piling up, and all of a sudden, the 59 watch has turned into a 63.

That is why Goydos kind of snuck up on everyone. He shot "only" 31 on the front, but he starting making putts on the back nine like he was putting into a dadgum manhole. The guy couldn't miss, and he didn't miss on the 18th hole when his seven-footer rolled into the cup. Much work ensued to translate this story onto PGATOUR.COM, and it's a challenge to get it done quickly and with respect to history.

Here's the kicker: I am not sure anyone was too worried about someone in the afternoon wave matching Goydos. Hey, two 59s, twice the work. Selfish. But Steve Stricker, teeing off at 1:42 p.m. ET, nearly pulled it off. He was standing in the fairway on the 18th hole, having hit exactly 58 shots. As I watched him line up his approach: One thought came to mind: This guy can hole this. He's one of the best players in the world with a short iron.

He nearly did just that. Stricker's shot spun around the cup but stayed out, capping a PGA TOUR first: It was the only time in PGA TOUR history that two players had shot 59 and 60 in the same day.

July had such a Twilight Zone feeling on TOUR, and it wrapped up with Stuart Appleby shooting 59 at win at The Greenbrier.

I'll never forget either of those 59s. Or shoot it.