Kevin Chappell cards 59, ties TOUR record with nine consecutive birdies at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

Kevin Chappell, in his first PGA TOUR start in 10 months, has returned in spectacular fashion by shooting an 11-under 59. In Friday’s second round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, Chappell tied a 10-year-old record by making nine consecutive birdies on his way to being just the 10th player in TOUR history to shoot a sub 60 round. RELATED: Tee times | Leishman WDs with back injury | New members came to play It is the 11th sub 60 round in history – Jim Furyk has managed the feat twice – and the second at Old White TPC course joining Stuart Appleby’s final round 59 from 2010. Chappell had a chance to join or even beat Furyk’s record 58 after he sat nine under through his first 10 holes on the par 70 course. At that stage he had just joined Mark Calcavecchia atop the TOUR record book with his ninth birdie in a row. Calcavecchia made nine straight in the second round of the 2009 RBC Canadian Open. Eight other players in TOUR history have made eight consecutive birdies. Chappell had the chance to make a 10th straight birdie and claim the record alone, but left his birdie putt from 23 feet, 6 inches short at the par-4 second at the Old White TPC course. A birdie on the par-4 fifth hole and another on the par-4 seventh left him two holes to set a new mark. He made a clutch two-putt par on the 8th and had just 10 feet, nine inches to navigate on his final hole to be just the second 58. Instead he settled with joining Furyk, Appleby, Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos, Justin Thomas, Adam Hadwin and Brandt Snedeker as players with a 59 to their names. Chappell is playing in his first TOUR event since last year’s Mayakoba Golf Classic in November. Later that month, he announced he was undergoing microdiscectomy surgery on his back, leaving his return open-ended. His lone TOUR win came at the 2017 Valero Texas Open; later that year he participated in the Presidents Cup as a member of the U.S. Team. After his recovery from surgery, Chappell returned to competitive action on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing two events in late August. He finished T-62 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, followed by a T-51 at the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco. At The Greenbrier, he opened with a 1-over 71 on Thursday but found the hot hand early in his second round and kept it going. Starting his round off the 10th tee in the afternoon wave, Chappell birdied the par-4 11th from 17 feet, 5 inches. He followed with eight more birdie putts: Par-5 12th (3 feet, 6 inches), par-4 13th (3 feet, 3 inches), par-4 14th (15 feet, 10 inches), par-3 15th (16 feet, 5 inches), par-4 16th (6 feet, 8 inches), par-5 17th (6 feet, 3 inches), par-3 18th (28 feet, 7 inches), and par-4 first (13 feet, 3 inches). His last two birdies, outside the streak, were from 11 feet, 9 inches and 12 feet respectively.

Click here to read the full article…