Paul Goydos, The Fourth Mr. 59, Now In World Golf Hall Of Fame

Never before have these words been joined together: Paul Goydos and World Golf Hall of Fame.

But thanks to his historic 59, shot in the first round of the John Deere Classic this season, Goydos will have his own display at the World Golf Hall of Fame.

His achievement matched that of three other players in PGA Tour events: Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, and David Duval.

Included at the World Golf Hall of Fame are the golf ball Goydos holed out with for the 59 (a Titleist), along with the hat, shirt and pants he wore on that Thursday. In addition, there is a signed flag from the John Deere Classic, the scorecard from the round, and a photo from the tournament.

The golf ball itself is signed “Paul Goydos” and underneath his name “59.” 

It is one of six that he used during that round.

“I gave two of them away to our volunteers, the standard bearer and the walking score,” Goydos said after his historic round concluded, leaving four for memorabilia. “I really don't know exactly where they're going to end up. But I'm definitely keeping one.”

Before shooting the 59, Goydos lowest score on tour was a 62. One was at Frys.com, at Gray Hawk GC.

“I birdied a couple holes coming in just to shoot that,” Goydos recalled.

The other 62 was at the Byron Nelson, paired with Tiger Woods and Nick Price.

“That one, yeah, I had some chances,” he said. “I shot 28 on my first nine holes and made a couple of early birdies, I think, on the Back 9. But then I missed the shortest birdie putt on 16 and I needed to actually hole in from the fairway on the last hole to shoot 59 and actually bogeyed the hole.”

He said that the most amazing thing about shooting 62 was it wasn’t the lowest score in his group.

Woods shot a 61. Price shot 63.

“Our group shot 186, which I guarantee you is the lowest group in the history of the PGA Tour,” he added.

Goydos has a good memory for other special scores and numbers in his career.

“I got a bunch of nines in the 20s, which to me is pretty cool,” he explained. “But I've had a couple of chances at home with friends to shoot 59 and didn't. And you know, I think I've made ten hole-in-ones, and I can tell you exactly where they were. And I've made three double eagles, and I can tell you exactly where they were. And this (59) is just the cream at the top.”

At some point, Goydos said, shooting 59 becomes mental more than physical.

“I would imagine there have been a boatload of 60s compared to how many 59s there are,” he said. “I do think that there's a slight psychological barrier to that score.”

That was proven true Saturday at The Greenbriar Classic when D.A. Points had a very realistic chance for a 59.

He was ten under par on a par 70 course coming off the 16th green.

He proceeded to bogey the par five 17th hole, and his only chance left to achieve the below 60 total would have been to hole out at the final hole, a par three.

He was not able to do it.

“I knew I was 10-under and had theoretically the easiest par-5 on the golf course,” Points said about the 17th hole on Saturday.

“I thought, ‘Shoot, I've been driving it well. If I'm gonna shoot 58 or nine, or whatever I could shoot today, I sure as heck better do it trying to hit driver and trying to make eagle, and not by laying up and trying to do all sorts of nonsense like that.’”

What actually happened was that his second shot found the greenside bunker, and it took him four more shots to hole out. He carded a bogey six.

“You know, that happens,” Points said. “It's gonna happen to me again, and it's okay. It was nice to be in the hunt at least for shooting 59.”

He wasn’t the only one going low Saturday--J.B. Holmes posted a 60.

And who knows what we will see Sunday or even at Firestone CC next week.

Shooting 59 is just not easy.

A couple of days after signing his scorecard, Goydos had a chance to put some perspective on the achievement.

“It's been done four times. I'm the oldest. That means something,” he said. “I'm flabbergasted by the attention it's getting as it is. I think I'll be more known at this point in time for shooting 59 than anything else.”

The Paul Goydos “59 Exhibit” will be at the World Golf Hall of Fame for the rest of this month.

(Photo: Courtesy The World Golf Hall of Fame)