By Canadian Press

Canada’s Adam Svensson shoot 61 after making bid for rare 59 at Wyndham

Aug 2, 2019 | 5:25 PM

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Canada’s Adam Svensson made a run at golf’s magic number before settling for a 9-under 61 on Friday at the Wyndham Championship.

The 59 watch was on after the 25-year-old golfer from Surrey, B.C., made seven birdies for a 28 on the front nine at a soft and wet Sedgefield Country Club. But Svensson cooled down with two birdies on the back nine, preventing him from becoming just the 10th player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59.

The best score in tour history was a 58 by Jim Furyk at the 2016 Travellers Championship.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was the lone Canadian to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour, doing so in 2017 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

After the morning wave, Svensson was tied with Korean Sungjae Im and American Patton Kizzire for the lead.

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Svensson missed a five-foot putt for birdie at No. 15 and a 15-footer for birdie at No. 17, pretty much ending his shot at a 59. He made an 11-foot par putt on No. 18 to complete a bogey-free round.

Svensson said he started to think about a 59 after his final birdie of the day at No. 13.

“Got a little nervous, but I was happy with the way I played. I had a couple missed putts coming down the stretch,” he said. 

The 61 came at a great time for Svensson, a PGA Tour rookie. He sat 171st in the FedEx Cup standings entering the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the playoffs.

The top 125 qualify for the playoffs and guarantee themselves PGA Tour cards for next season. If Svensson does not reach the top 125, he’ll have to go to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to try to maintain his status on the top tour.

“I was talking to Danny (Sahl), my caddie, who said, ‘You know what? Go out and just no pressure, just go out there and play and see what we can do,'” Svensson said. 

Svensson also shot a 61 in January in the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. He is the only player this season to shoot multiple rounds of 61 or better.

The Canadian Press