The 10 best golf moments of 2013: The 59 (and the near 59s)

Over the next 10 days, until we get to the New Year, we will be rolling out the top-10 best golf moments of 2013. After much deliberation and debate, we picked what we thought were the 10 moments you will remember about this season a decade from now. We start with Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and even Tiger Woods as the 10th best moment of ’13.

The final putt for Jim Furyk’s 59, the sixth in the history of the PGA Tour, happened on September 13, but this story starts months before in the Phoenix desert.

Phil Mickelson, a man that is as synonymous with the Waste Management Open as caddie races, opened his bid for a third Phoenix Open title on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale as on fire as a golfer can be.

Mickelson had basically the entire crowd in Scottsdale following his every move as he made his way to his back nine, and he got to the par-4 9th hole needing a birdie to post that magical number.

The fan favorite hit an incredible putt, the ball looked like it was destined for history, but it caught the lip, shot back his way in a cruel twist of fate, and it was “just” a 60 for Phil.

That Thursday was basically everything we hope for with a Phil Mickelson moment, from the build up of birdies to get to that final hole to the crescendo of fans roaring as that putt looked like it had no other plan but to drop deep into a man-made hole and make history.

Tiger Woods is not a man that we expect to be outdone by Mickelson, and a few months later, at Firestone, got himself into the 59 conversation with an incredible second round at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods settled for a 61, but even that had some drama, with Woods rolling in a lengthy par putt on the 18th green to post that number and eventually win the golf tournament.

Furyk, of course, was able to pull off the shot he needed to join this elite club at the BMW Championship. The former U.S. Open champion played his opening nine holes at 8-under, and added to that total with birdies on three of his next four holes.

It all came down to his final hole, the par-4 9th, with Furyk needing a birdie for the 59, and he simply stuffed a wedge to almost gimmie range for the birdie and history.

All three rounds were exactly an indication of the confidence, and game, needed to go extremely low, and while the two biggest names couldn’t pull off what Furyk did, both Mickelson at the Waste Management and Tiger at Firestone were two of the most exciting days in non-major events all year.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo Sports