Kevin Chappell 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. In Friday’s second round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, Chappell tied a 10-year-old record by making nine consecutive birdies. Chappell joins Mark Calcavecchia atop the TOUR record book. 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. 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).

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