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It was just the third 59 in PGA TOUR history, and the first shot on Sunday to win a tournament. And David Duval didn’t have to make a putt outside 10 feet to do it. “I probably can’t play better,â€� he said afterwards. This week’s Desert Classic marks the 20th anniversary of that historic round. It was part of a dominant stretch that saw Duval supplant Tiger Woods atop the world ranking. Duval started 1999 with a nine-shot victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. His next start came at the Desert Classic. He was 52 under par in his first nine rounds of the year (the Desert Classic was a 90-hole event). He won THE PLAYERS Championship two months later to reach No. 1 in the world ranking. His win at the following week’s BellSouth Classic was his 11th in 34 starts, a stretch that started when he won his first event in October 1997. DUVAL’S 59 BY THE NUMBERS Birdies: 11 Eagles: 1 Greens hit: 17 of 18 Fairways hit: 11 of 13 Approaches within 5 feet: 9 Approaches within 20 feet: 15 Longest putt holed: 10 feet Strokes Gained: Putting: +1.97* * – based on Duval’s hole-by-hole recollections. Duval’s peak didn’t last long – the 2001 Open Championship was his 13th, and final, TOUR win – but few players could hang with him when his iron play was on. Just two men had broken 60 before him – Al Geiberger in 1977 and Chip Beck in 1991. It was an especially rare feat at the time, but Duval’s impressive iron play on that day led playing partner Jeff Maggert to call it an “easy 59.â€� It’s the lowest final-round score, in relation to par, by a winner. Stuart Appleby is the only other player to win by shooting 59 on Sunday, which he did on the par-70 Old White Course at the inaugural Greenbrier Classic. Half of Duval’s approach shots at PGA West’s Palmer Private Course stopped within 5 feet of the hole. He hit 15 approaches within 20 feet. He missed just one green and two fairways. “I’ve never seen anyone hit the ball that close for an entire round,â€� Maggert said. Duval wasn’t just making birdie with his wedge in hand. He was knocking mid-irons close to the hole. “It was sort of like a no-hitter,â€� Maggert said. “I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Finally, after he stiffed it for the fourth straight time on a par 3, I said, ‘I didn’t realize we were playing par 2s today.'” Duval’s performance on the par 3s was a display of ball-striking beauty. It started with a 6-iron to 3 feet on the third hole. Two holes later, he hit a 5-iron to 5 feet. Then he hit a 6-iron to 2 feet on the 12th hole and an 8-iron to 2 feet on No. 15. Duval eagled the par-5 finishing hole after hitting a 5-iron from 218 yards to 6 feet. We can now calculate Duval’s Strokes Gained: Putting based on his post-round recollection of each hole. He gained slightly less than 2 strokes on the greens (+1.97), the lowest Strokes Gained: Putting performance in the eight sub-60 rounds for which we have shot-by-shot data. Duval could have gone even lower. He missed birdie opportunities from 12, 15 and 20 feet. Of the 10 sub-60 rounds on TOUR, Duval’s is one of just three that didn’t include a hole-out from off the green (Appleby and Beck are the others). Geiberger’s ground-breaking round included a pitch-in from 30 yards, as well as nine putts holed from outside 10 feet. Brandt Snedeker holed an iron shot in his 59 at last year’s Wyndham Championship, as did Jim Furyk in both of his sub-60 rounds. Adam Hadwin chipped in with a hybrid to shoot 59 in the 2017 CareerBuilder and Justin Thomas chipped in for eagle on the first hole of his 59 at Waialae. Beck didn’t sink a shot from off the putting surface, but he did hole a 60-footer on the first hole.  Duval didn’t need any such shot to break 60. Here’s a look at each of Duval’s holes in his historic round (birdies and eagles in bold): - No. 1: Pitching wedge to 5 feet. Birdie. - No. 2: Chip shot to 3 feet. Birdie. - No. 3: 6-iron to 3 feet. Birdie. – No. 4: 9-iron to 15 feet. Par. - No. 5: 5-iron to 5 feet. Birdie. – No. 6: Sand wedge to 30 feet. Par. – No. 7: 7-iron to 40 feet. Par. – No. 8: Sand wedge over green. Made 6-foot par putt. - No. 9: 8-iron to 8 feet. Birdie. He shot 31 on the front nine. He really heated up on the back nine, hitting eight approach shots within 12 feet of the hole en route to an 8-under 28. - No. 10: Sand wedge to 5 feet. Birdie. - No. 11: Chip shot to 1 foot. Birdie. - No. 12: 6-iron to 2 feet. Birdie. – No. 13: 7-iron to 12 feet. Par. - No. 14: Sand wedge to 10 feet. Birdie. - No. 15: 8-iron to 2 feet. Birdie. - No. 16: Sand wedge to 1 foot. Birdie. – No. 17: 9-iron to 20 feet. Par. - No. 18: 5-iron to 6 feet. Eagle. Johnny Miller, another man with a reputation for knocking iron shots close, said Duval’s follow-through was key to his power and accuracy. “He has tremendous range of motion and total extension to the target,â€� Miller told Sports Illustrated. “His distance control was phenomenal. He hits that wonderful high fade with his irons that is the scoring shot when the greens are firm. Where David has the advantage over me is length. “He is a gifted ball-striker, like guys such as Nick Price, Lee Trevino, Lanny Wadkins and myself, but he’s so much stronger than any of us.â€� In 1999, Duval led the TOUR in greens in regulation, hitting nearly 74 percent. He also hit 75 percent of his fairways while ranking ninth in driving distance (286.9 yards). Duval’s ball-striking was incredible. And, for one day, it was nearly perfect.

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The PGA Tour is putting a retail sportsbook operated by DraftKings at TPC Scottsdale, home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, one of golf’s most raucous events.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cameron Smith just needed a sense of urgency to hit him right in the face. Complacency can be a killer in all sports, and for the second season running, Smith had let a solid start to a season fade away with a quiet middle. Last year, Smith opened by making 10 of his first 11 cuts with five top-10 finishes. His next nine starts, however, yielded just four weekends, with a best finish of 23rd. But Smith thrives under the gun. With the FedExCup Playoffs approaching, Smith fired up and made his last four cuts of the year, including two top 10s. This season, Smith made his first nine cuts, with three top-10 results. He also defended his Australian PGA Championship title. But then, he missed five of his next 11 cuts, with a 29th place the high mark. The 25-year-old Australian then saw he’d slipped outside the automatic selection zone for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in December – where he hopes to make his International Team debut. He also noticed his FedExCup rank sliding ominously closer to the dreaded 125 mark. Cue the uptick in his performances. At The Open Championship Smith, finished 20th, but threatened the top 10 until wild weather hit Sunday. Proving it was no fluke, the former Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner opened the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational on Thursday with a 5-under 65 to be tied second. He’s on pace to finish strong once more. “I like having a motive. Something to play for,â€� Smith admitted. “It has been a bit of a frustrating year. I’ve had a long middle of the season there, couldn’t really get much rolling. I was working hard and nothing was kind of going my way. “That’s just golf sometimes, you never really know what it’s going to throw at you. Keep grinding through it and the results will always be around the corner.â€� Smith’s finish a week ago moved him back to eighth in the Presidents Cup standings with just five weeks before the top eight secure spots for Melbourne. His destiny in his own hands. “My destiny has been in my own hands all year, but it is certainly a huge goal of mine to be on the Presidents Cup team,â€� Smith said. “I think I’ve played well enough to be on it. But now it’s up to me to make sure if it.â€� Sitting with Smith in a tie for second, three shots behind leader Jon Rahm, is Japan’s Shugo Imahira. Imahira sits 12th on the International team standings and also has desires to make it to Melbourne. The two-time Japan Tour winner has placed in the top 10 in his last five starts on his home Tour. “I haven’t been watching the standings too closely but I know a good performance this week could help my goal of making the team,â€� Imahira said through a translator. “It would be an honor to make it.â€�

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