When 2024 began, it would have been hard to predict quite how many golfers would break 60 as it progressed. However, it was only a matter of weeks into the year when the first player chalked up a sub-60 round, and the remarkable feat has been achieved several more times as 2024 has progressed.
Here are the nine players who have carded a round below 60 this year so far.
Joaquin Niemann
- Score: 59
- Event: LIV Golf Mayakoba - LIV Golf
- Date: 2 February
The year was still young when 60 was bettered for the first time, and that honor fell to LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann. Perhaps most remarkably, he made 59 it in the first round of the first tournament of the LIV Golf season, at Mayakoba in Mexico.
He made 10 birdies and an eagle on the Friday at El Camaleon Golf Club, which set him on his way to his maiden LIV Golf title.,
Helped by that remarkable round, the Torque GC captain could even afford a two-shot penalty on the Sunday before he beat Sergio Garcia in a playoff as darkness fell.
Cristobal Del Solar
- Score: 57
- Event: Astara Golf Championship - Korn Ferry Tour
- Date: 8 February
Six days after Niemann’s 59, Cristobal Del Solar became the second Chilean of the year to card below 60 with a truly remarkable 57 in the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship. That didn’t turn out to be just the lowest score of the year so far, it was the lowest round ever recorded on a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
Caveats included the short 6,254 yard par 70 course at Colombia's Country Club de Bogota, while it was also played at altitude, making it even shorter. However, veteran caddie Kip Henley defended his achievement, writing on X: “This dude shot 57 today on a course that just isn’t that easy.”
Del Solar’s round included nine birdies and two eagles, but it wasn’t enough to claim the title as he finished fifth.
Aldrich Potgieter
- Score: 59
- Event: Astara Golf Championship - Korn Ferry Tour
- Date: 9 February
Remarkably, we only needed to wait another day for the third sub-60 round of the season, and it came in the same tournament, as South African Aldrich Potgieter followed up his 66 in the first round with 59 in the second.
At the age of 19, that made him the youngest player to record a sub-60 round in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. His 10 birdies and one eagle that day gave him the lead at the halfway stage, but there was no repeat of his heroics as he finished T20.
John Catlin
- Score: 59
- Event: International Series Macau - Asian Tour
- Date: 16 March
Just over a month after Potgieter’s 59, American John Catlin got in on the act when he became the first player to shoot the score on the Asian Tour in the third round of the International Series Macau.
He’d already produced nine birdies before saving his best for last – a left-to-right breaking 20-foot eagle putt on the par-five 18th to get to the magic number.
Afterwards, he claimed he was "pretty much speechless,” before finding some words to describe his feelings, adding: “It’s pretty, crazy. It hasn’t totally sunk in yet. Wow.”
Frankie Capan III
- Score: 58
- Event: Veritex Bank Championship - Korn Ferry Tour
- Date: 25 April
In April, Frankie Capan III achieved the second-lowest round of the year so far with a 58 at the Veritex Bank Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The American’s 13-under-par round included 11 birdies and one eagle, and to make it even more special, it broke the previous course record set by Scottie Scheffler in 2020, when he carded 59 at the Texas Rangers Golf Club.
It wasn’t enough to win the event, as he finished fourth, but Capan III’s fine form continued through the season, and he eventually graduated to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
Harry Hillier
- Score: 59
- Event: Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship - PGA Tour Americas
- Date: 17 May
The year wasn’t even at the halfway point when Harry Hillier became the sixth player to shoot a sub-60 round with a 13-under 59. at the Inter Rapidísimo Golf Championship on the PGA Tour Americas, where he birdied all but six holes.
That came in his second round, and it set the New Zealander up for his first PGA Tour-sanctioned victory by eight shots. It also banked him conditional status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour.
Cameron Young
- Score: 59
- Event: Travelers Championship - PGA Tour
- Date: 21 June
American Cameron Young produced a magical second round in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, when seven birdies and two eagles gave him the 13th 59 in PGA Tour history.
Even then, it wasn’t enough to give him the course record, as it came eight years after Jim Furyk’s famous 58 at the Connecticut venue.
Young began the round 11 shots back of overnight leader Tom Kim, and by the time he’d finished, he was level with the South Korean, who was yet to get underway. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for a maiden PGA Tour title, and Young had to settle for T9.
Hayden Springer
- Score: 59
- Event: John Deere Classic - PGA Tour
- Date: 4 July
Hayden Springer carded the 14th PGA Tour 59 just seven months after earning his card at TPC Deere Run tournament the John Deere Classic.
That came during the first round and included eight birdies and two eagles. He began like a train, shooting an eight-under 27 on the front nine for the lowest nine-hole score on the PGA Tour since 2000, and though the back nine wasn’t quite as spectacular, his birdie on the last saw him reach the magic number.
Patrick Reed
- Score: 59
- Event: LINK Hong Kong Open - Asian Tour
- Date: 23 November
After at least one sub-60 round every month between February and July, the only surprising thing was how long it took for the ninth of the year to occur.
That came in November’s LINK Hong Kong Open on the Asian tour’s International Series, with the honor falling to LIV Golf star Patrick Reed.
The American produced 11 birdies during his third round at the Hong Kong Golf Club as he moved firmly into contention for his first win in four years. He eventually closed out victory by three over Ben Campbell for his maiden Asian Tour title.
