American Jeff Overton was a hot favorite to complete victory at the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic overnight. Stuart Appleby trailed Overton by seven strokes to start his round and the Aussie made nine birdies and an eagle on the way to the victory as he shot the fifth 59 in PGA Tour history. It was the first 59 by a PGA Tour player carded on a par-70 course and Stuart became the second player to shoot a 59 in the final round to win a tournament after David Duval.
Jimmy Walker, playing alongside Appleby, said: “He’s in the zone today. I’ve never played with anybody that shot that low. He made everything. It was really cool to watch. He putted unbelievable.” Appleby, on the other hand, said: “I was quite comfortable. It’s not a nerve-racking thing to be involved in. I had a lot of opportunities and I made them. It was great to do that to win the tournament”
The 39-year-old Appleby won for the first time since the 2006 Houston Open breaking a four-year victory drought and toppling the course record of 60 set by Sam Snead in 1950 (and matched Saturday by J.B. Holmes). His previous career low was 62 in the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational and the Australian has played 80 rounds this year entering the Greenbrier Classic to shoot in the 60s only 21 times.
Third-round leader Jeff Overton narrowly missed his first PGA Tour title by a single stroke. The American had 34 putts in the final round, three-putting three times, shot 67 to finish at 21 under about 30 minutes after Appleby. Brendon de Jonge from Zimbabwe scored a 65 on Sunday to finish third at 17 under, while 5 Americans, Woody Austin, Paul Stankowski, Roger Tambellini, Jimmy Walker and D.A Points were tied at 15 under, sharing the fourth place. Last week Canadian Open winner Carl Pettersson disappointed and shared the 51st place at the end.
The other seven Aussies to survive the halfway cut had finished quite well the tournament too. Aron Price has shot a 65 in each of last two rounds to share the ninth place and he was followed one stroke behind by his fellow countryman Marc Leishman who shared the 16th place. John Senden was on a T21 spot, while Aaron Baddeley shared the 36th place. Last Australians placed were Cameron Percy and Mathew Goggin to share the 45th place and Greg Chalmers with a T51 spot.