Advertisement

Scottie Scheffler shoots 59 at Northern Trust as Dustin Johnson falls just short of historic round

Jason Owens
Staff writer
·4 min read

Scottie Scheffler is on a roll.

Two weeks after contending on a Sunday at the PGA Championship, the 24-year-old rookie flirted with golf history.

His eagle putt on 18 missed the mark on Friday at the Northern Trust. But his birdie putt on the par 5 was true to secure a round of 59, the second-lowest score in PGA Tour history.

Dustin Johnson’s shot at history comes up short

Dustin Johnson threatened to card the second sub-60 round of the day after a scorching start. But he finished with a 60 after a pair of disappointing pars on 17 and 18. Johnson missed a short birdie putt on 17 that grazed the edge of the cup.

He followed up that missed putt with a tee shot that landed in the thick right rough on the par 5 18th. He finished with a 5.

“Obviously you start thinking about it,” Johnson told reporters about his shot at 59. ... “Eighteen, if I had to do it over again, I would have probably hit 3-wood off the tee. It is what it is. I was trying to get it up there where I could get a short iron in my hand.”

Dustin Johnson watches his shot off the 13th tee during the second round of the Northern Trust golf tournament at TPC Boston, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, in Norton, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Dustin Johnson watches his shot off the 13th tee during the second round of the Northern Trust golf tournament at TPC Boston, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, in Norton, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

It was a remarkable round regardless that started with three birdies and two eagles to card 7-under through five holes. He sat at 11-under through 11 holes, but closed with seven straight pars to fall short of a historic day.

He’ll have to settle for one of the best rounds on tour this year and a clubhouse leading -15 heading into the weekend.

Scheffler joins short list

Meanwhile Scheffler fell just short of a record round. But breaking 60’s not a bad consolation. The score was good for 12-under on the day at the Par 71 TPC Boston, which vaulted him to the clubhouse lead before Johnson took his spot atop the leaderboard. Making it even more remarkable is that he shot just 1-under 70 on Thursday. He’ll head into the weekend at 13-under par.

It marks the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. Jim Furyk recorded the PGA Tour’s only 58 at the 2016 Traveler’s Championship.

Scottie Scheffler watches his tee shot.
Scottie Scheffler flirted with golf history and finds himself in contention for his first PGA victory. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Scheffler’s scorecard

As is expected with a score like that, Scheffler failed to record a blemish on his scorecard Friday. He notched six birdies on the front nine and six birdies on the back to tally the best score of his young PGA Tour career.

The round arrives after an outstanding performance at his first PGA Championship that saw him in a seven-way tie atop the leaderboard on Sunday before Colin Morikawa pulled away for the victory. Scheffler’s 10-under at Harding Park was good for a fourth-place tie.

“It felt great,” Scheffler told Golf Digest after his round. “It was a lot of fun. Making birdies is a lot more fun than making pars and bogeys.”

Who is Scottie Scheffler?

Scheffler played college golf at Texas before joining the Korn Ferry Tour after he graduated in 2018. He was named Korn Ferry Player of the Year in 2019 as a rookie and is in his first year of playing on the PGA Tour full time.

Scheffler has five top-10 finishes on Tour this season and three top fives. He was ranked 45th in the world heading into the weekend and 24th in the FedEx Cup standings. He appears on pace to improve greatly on both of those marks and is in position to content for his first tour victory this weekend.

A big hitter capable of scoring in bunches, Scheffler joins Morkiawa as one of the most promising young players on tour.

More from Yahoo Sports: