Two 59s already ... one more to go this week at Wyndham?

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Editor's Note: PGA TOUR Network broadcaster Bob Stevens has seen -- in person -- Paul Goydos' 59 and Stuart Appleby's 59 this year. He'll be out on this course at the Wyndham Championship this week and can be heard on Sirius 209/XM 146, as well as on PGATOUR.COM.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Now that the world's best players have been humbled a little during the high-pressure World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship during the last two weeks, the pros can perhaps get back to having a little fun.

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Although the final event of the TOUR's regular season, the Wyndham Championship, offers up one last chance for players to make the 125-man PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, it also offers up an excellent opportunity for one of the "These Guys are Good" gang to shoot golf's magic number and truly make this the Season of 59.

Can lightning strike at Sedgefield Country Club, like it did for Paul Goydos at TPC Deere Run or Stuart Appleby at The Greenbrier, or nearly did for Carl Pettersson at St. George's near Toronto?

Absolutely.

In fact, Pettersson himself nearly did it two years ago at Sedgefield in the course's first season as host to the Wyndham, firing a second-round 61 on his way to victory. That 61 included two bogeys. You do the math -- I'm sure Carl has.

There are a number of different ways to shoot 59. Goydos was in the second group off on Thursday morning at the John Deere Classic, meaning he was putting on at least nine nearly pristine greens. Yet he made just four birdies on that front nine -- his big run of five straight circles on the card did not happen until he made the turn.

Goydos

Down the stretch, Goydos was also aided a bit by the shots, and the attitudes, of his two fellow competitors, Cliff Kresge and Jonathan Byrd. The pair didn't treat Goydos like he was a pitcher throwing a no-hitter; they knew the gregarious Goydos would be more comfortable if they were joking and talking down the fairways, keeping him relaxed. Curiously, the pair also hit shots that gave Goydos great looks at his putts at 16, 17 and 18, either on the same line or on his through line.

Like Goydos' 59, Appleby's actually had a "slump" in the middle of the round. After birdies on five of his first seven holes, Appleby parred three of the next four, so he was "only" 6-under with seven holes to play.

Unlike Goydos, Appleby's 59 came under the pressure of the final round with the tournament on the line. I never got the feeling he had breaking 60 on his mind; he was just trying to keep making birdies to keep the pressure on tournament leader Jeff Overton.

Appleby

Also, unlike Goydos' chase, Appleby didn't have the good humor of fellow competitors to keep him loose. Jimmy Walker was gritting his teeth while hobbling on a bad knee in the final round and words between the two were few. In fact, Walker inadvertently forced Appleby to wait nearly 15 minutes to hit the critical 15-foot birdie putt at the 16th hole while he sought a ruling on his own shot that had found an unplayable area between two sets of bleachers. After the long wait, Appleby made the birdie at 16, and the 10-footers for birdie at both 17 and 18 to seal his place in history.

What the 59s shared, besides a blazing finish and no bogeys, were rain-softened fairways and greens and no wind, conditions that allowed Goydos and Appleby to throw darts at the flags -- which, contrary to conspiracy-theory opinions, were not set up any easier than any other day or any other tourney. The playing conditions dictated that going low would be the order of the day in both cases, but these two did it better than anyone else.

So why can it happen again this week? Sedgefield is a wonderful Donald Ross layout with severely sloping green complexes. If the past is any indication, these guys will go low again. Just 10 TOUR courses played easier in 2009, and just eight played easier in '08. No par-70 course on TOUR gave up more eagles or birdies last year than Sedgefield.

Maybe more importantly, the players know its really possible. The last 59 fired before Goydos' was by David Duval near the peak of his run as one of the world's top players. Goydos cracked the barrier, much like Roger Bannister with the four-minute mile, and now it seems every week someone is challenging golf's great number.

There's also a lot of incentive to make birdies in bunches. With the opportunity to make the Playoffs and get a shot at that $10 million FedExCup bonus against not being able to play at all for the next month, you think these guys are going to play for pars?

And those course conditions? Scattered thunderstorms through the early part of the week with only nominal winds should make the layout soft, with birdies raining down. In a TOUR season that's been so unpredicable, why not another 59, or two, with a trip to the Playoffs on the line?

I've seen two 59s this year. I can't wait to see the next one. And that wait might not be long.