While the ability to shoot seriously low numbers on a golf course makes for a thrilling spectacle, it is not always financially rewarding. David Higgins discovered this to his cost at Club de Campo last weekend, after a sizzling second-round 62 in the Madrid Open led ultimately to a share of 25th place.
David Feherty once observed that a player needed a vivid imagination to go really low. It's an interesting theory which doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.
For instance, New Zealander Grant Waite is among the elite group of players to have shot 60 on the US Tour, which he did in the fourth round of the 1996 Phoenix Open for a share of 14th place. Yet Tom Watson's best was 63, which he did three times. In fact it wasn't until the Senior Tour in 1999 that Watson carded his first 62.
We could, of course, have attributed a vivid imagination to Chip Beck after his 59 in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational. Two years later at Augusta National, however, the assessment would have rung somewhat hollow when he sacrificed any remaining chance of catching Bernhard Langer, by laying up at the long 15th in the final round.
Do low-shooters have what it takes to be winners? Some of them do, but the two attributes don't necessarily go together. For instance, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman won countless tournaments in the US without ever shooting lower than 62. Hale Irwin on the other hand, carded his best-ever round of 61 in the 1982 Southern Open, but didn't win. In this context, it is interesting to note that back in 1957, Sam Snead shot a 60 en route to victory in the Dallas Open.
Though David Duval's closing eagle for a winning 59 in the 1999 Bob Hope Classic, stands apart, Johnny Miller was probably the most spectacular scorer in the history of the US Tour. He shot 61 twice, the second of which was a winning effort in the final round of the 1975 Tucson Open. And a closing 63 brought him from six shots back to a sensational victory in the 1973 US Open at Oakmont.
And what of Europe? Of the eight players who have shot 60 on the European Tour, only four went on to win the tournament. Darren Clarke (1992 Monte Carlo Open and 1999 Smurfit European Open), was among those who didn't, along with Baldovino Dassu (1971 Swiss Open), Paul Curry (1992 Scottish Open) and Johan Rystrom (1992 Monte Carlo Open).
And what of Feherty himself? His best European round was a 61 in the 1991 Catalan Open where he finished second and his best in the US was a 65 in the 1994 New England Classic where he was also runner-up.
Meanwhile, Higgins still stands alone among Irish professionals for his scoring burst on the 7,200-yard Crown Mines course in Johannesburg on October 31st, 1994. While competing in the South African Tour School, he started his final round with eagle, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, to be an astonishing nine under par after seven holes.
As it happened, he bogeyed the next and eventually finished with a 63. "In the circumstances, I suppose it was a bad 63," he said with a wry smile.
"The uglier a man's legs the better he plays golf - it's almost a law."
- G Wells.
