Palmer misses chance for 59
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Ryan Palmer missed a chance to shoot 59 or lower Friday in the Humana Challenge, settling for an 11-under 61 after playing an eight-hole stretch in 10 under.
After opening with two pars, Palmer had two eagles and six birdies on the next eight holes to match the longest eagle-birdie streak in PGA Tour history.
“Walking off 10, after I got to 10 under, I was staying calm, trying not to think about anything, just trying to keep my momentum going, my pace with my walk,” Palmer said. “It’s hard not to think about it.”
Needing to play the final eight holes in 3 under to shoot 59, he bogeyed the par-4 second and par-3 third to drop to 8 under.
“Couple loose swings there,” Palmer said. “I guess the bogeys did kind of calm me down a little bit more and I didn’t worry about, obviously, the number.”
Palmer birdied the par-5 fourth and par-4 sixth. He parred the par-3 seventh, birdied the par-5 eighth after missing an 8-foot eagle putt, and missed a 6-foot putt on the par-4 ninth in a closing par.
The 38-year-old Texan holed out from 97 yards for eagle on the par-4 12th to start the streak on PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Private Course.
He birdied the next three holes, made a 20-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the par-5 16th and added three more birdies.
“I putted well,” Palmer said. “I didn’t make anything long, except for the eagle on 16.”
He tied the birdie-eagle streak record set by Billy Mayfair in the 2001 Buick Open and matched by Briny Baird in the 2003 FUNAI Classic.
Mayfair and Baird were each 9 under during their runs, making seven birdies and an eagle.
At 9-under 27, Palmer matched the tour record for relation to par for nine holes and was a stroke off the record of 26 set by Corey Pavin on a par-34 nine in Milwaukee in 2006.
Six players have shot 59 on the PGA Tour.
Al Geiberger did it in the 1977 Memphis Classic, Chip Beck in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, David Duval on the Palmer course in the final round of his 1999 Bob Hope victory, Paul Goydos in the 2010 John Deere Classic, Stuart Appleby in the 2010 Greenbrier Classic and Jim Furyk in the 2013 BMW Championship. Ryo Ishikawa shot the lowest round on a major tour, a 58 to win the 2010 Crowns on the Japan Tour.
Palmer had a 12-under 132 total after opening with a 71 on Thursday at La Quinta Country Club.
He was three strokes behind leader Matt Kuchar.
Kuchar, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 11, had a 64 on the Nicklaus course.
He tied for third last week in Hawaii in the Sony Open.
“Game feels solid,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I know where it’s going, feel like I’m hitting it in the center of the clubface.”
Kuchar eagled the par-5 fourth, hitting his approach to 12 feet
“It’s an uphill shot and that 4-iron hybrid I can hit high in the air,” Kuchar said. “I was able to get it up in the air and land about on the front edge.”
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