Alright, so I got this itch the other day, you know? Was watching some golf highlights and started wondering, what are the absolute lowest scores guys have shot over a full 72-hole tournament on the PGA Tour? Not just the total score, but how far under par they went. Seemed like a simple question, right?
Well, I started poking around online. First few searches just gave me recent tournament results or general articles talking about low scores. Nothing like a clear, simple list of the all-time bests, specifically for that “under par” number across 72 holes. It was kinda frustrating, honestly. Lots of stats out there, but finding this specific thing cleanly was proving tricky.
So, I decided I’d just have to try and piece it together myself. I figured I’d need to look at records from specific tournaments known for low scoring. Places like Kapalua for The Sentry, maybe some fall series events, stuff like that. I started digging into historical results, looking at leaderboards from past years.
It took a bit of effort. I was jumping between different stat sites, old news reports, even just checking player records. Had to be careful, too. Needed to make sure it was definitely a standard 72-hole event, no weird formats, and verify the par for the course that year to get the right “under par” figure. Sometimes you’d see a low total score, but the par was higher, so the under-par number wasn’t as impressive, relatively speaking.
Putting the Pieces Together
I basically started making my own little list. I’d find a potential record low score, note down the player, the tournament, the year, the total score, the par, and finally calculate that crucial number: strokes under par.
- Checked player names: Made sure I had the right guy.
- Verified tournament names: Sometimes these change over the years.
- Confirmed 72 holes: Filtered out any shortened events.
- Double-checked the par: Crucial for the “under par” stat.
Slowly but surely, a list started taking shape. I focused on getting the top few, the real record-breakers. It was interesting to see which names kept popping up and which tournaments seemed to yield these incredibly low scores more often.
What I Found (Basically)
Without getting into a super long list right here, the numbers are just crazy low. We’re talking scores deep into the minus 30s! Seeing scores like -34, -33, -32 under par over four days is just mind-boggling. It really highlights how dialed in these pros can get when conditions are right and their game is firing on all cylinders.
It mainly seemed to happen on courses where conditions were perfect – soft greens, not much wind, maybe reachable par 5s. The usual suspects in terms of low-scoring venues definitely featured heavily.
So yeah, that was my little project. Started with a simple question, took a bit of digging, but I managed to put together a decent picture of those all-time lowest 72-hole under-par scores. It’s pretty cool to see the benchmarks those top players have set. Makes you appreciate just how good they are.
