Justin Rose's 60

[TourSpoon]

I was stunned to see Justin Rose airmail the 18th green (not as stunned as he was) at the RBC on Sunday. Just needing a par to join the "59" club and coming off of a kick-in birdie on the 17th, he was 153 yards away with a great lie and came out with a 5. I have to admit, I would have bet on the 59 after he hit his tee shot especially watching him stick short iron after short iron all day long. As a golf fan, I went from pure excitement to see a historical round to WTF just happened. It was a great round for sure, but he has to be replaying that last shot in his head over and over. Despite the bogey, JR ties the course record and his lowest tournament round.  Anyone else get caught up in the excitement of that moment? 

[Shindig]

A year or so ago, I had a thought to write an article that I started some research for but didn't complete.  It's related to Erik's "no sixes" challenge, and I was thinking of how good a score a touring professional can have if they have "no fives" (or worse).  Amazingly, the bogey on 18 was Rose's only five of the day, although he also had a six on a par-5, a score that I think is fairly rare for touring professionals.  This might be worth looking into.

Since I'm already planning to do a lot of writing this summer, maybe I'll get around to writing something about pros with no fives.  I think two rounds in majors last year were "no fives" -- Oosthuizen at the UKBO (second round) and I think Morikawa had one at a major too.  Mike Weir had one at the Senior PGA and there was one at the PGA Club Professional championship too.  And there were several at non-major events, too.

[klineka]

2 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

I was stunned to see Justin Rose airmail the 18th green (not as stunned as he was) at the RBC on Sunday. Just needing a par to join the "59" club and coming off of a kick-in birdie on the 17th, he was 153 yards away with a great lie and came out with a 5. 

FWIW, he was in the first cut of rough. Not quite the same as the ankle deep rough that was nearby, but certainly deep enough to cause jumpers. Plus IIRC the wind was starting to pick up just a tad too.

Also from 140yds in the rough PGA tour players take on average 3.15 strokes to hole out and from 160 in the rough it's 3.23. Let's split the difference and say that tour players on average are likely right around 3.19 strokes to hole out from 150 in the rough. 

Justin Rose for the season is 91st (was 114 before this past week) in strokes gained approach the green.

 

So we have a middle of the pack approach player, in the rough, with a bit of a breeze, likely some added adrenaline, from a yardage where tour players average needing more than 3 strokes to hole out, and he didn't hole out within 3 shots.

Yes I know that he was playing really really well that day, but in looking at that one specific hole relative to the bigger picture doesn't make it seem as surprising that he didn't make par IMO.

 

I know it's easy to focus on the bogey on the last hole as the reason why he shot a 60 rather than a 59, but IMO the 6 he made on the par 5 9th was worse. 

On that hole he had 111yds left in the fairway hitting his 3rd shot and it took him 4 shots to hole out. The tour average from 120 in the fairway is 2.85. He 3 putted from 31 feet away on the fringe which included missing a 4ft 10in putt. 

That's far worse than making bogey from 153 in the rough IMO.

Edited June 13, 2022 by klineka

[TourSpoon]

19 minutes ago, klineka said:

FWIW, he was in the first cut of rough. Not quite the same as the ankle deep rough that was nearby, but certainly deep enough to cause jumpers. Plus IIRC the wind was starting to pick up just a tad too.

Also from 140yds in the rough PGA tour players take on average 3.15 strokes to hole out and from 160 in the rough it's 3.23. Let's split the difference and say that tour players on average are likely right around 3.19 strokes to hole out from 150 in the rough. 

Justin Rose for the season is 91st (was 114 before this past week) in strokes gained approach the green.

 

So we have a middle of the pack approach player, in the rough, with a bit of a breeze, likely some added adrenaline, from a yardage where tour players average needing more than 3 strokes to hole out, and he didn't hole out within 3 shots.

Yes I know that he was playing really really well that day, but in looking at that one specific hole relative to the bigger picture doesn't make it seem as surprising that he didn't make par IMO.

 

I know it's easy to focus on the bogey on the last hole as the reason why he shot a 60 rather than a 59, but IMO the 6 he made on the par 5 9th was worse. 

On that hole he had 111yds left in the fairway hitting his 3rd shot and it took him 4 shots to hole out. The tour average from 120 in the fairway is 2.85. He 3 putted from 31 feet away on the fringe which included missing a 4ft 10in putt. 

That's far worse than making bogey from 153 in the rough IMO.

I have never been so disappointed for someone to shoot a 60! He came off so clutch on 17, that it seemed like it was going to be his day. All in all, the final round coverage had the Rory story and the 59 watch which made for a better than average entertainment value for the Tour. 

[Shindig]

10 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

I have never been so disappointed for someone to shoot a 60! He came off so clutch on 17, that it seemed like it was going to be his day. All in all, the final round coverage had the Rory story and the 59 watch which made for a better than average entertainment value for the Tour. 

There is someone who I used to be quite fond of who shot a 60, after horseshoeing his final putt on 18.  I think this was in Phoenix a few years ago.