David Skinns had nine feet to sign for a 59 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, but unfortunately, he missed it low.
He sank his par putt to sign for a 12-under 60 and set the Country Club of Jackson’s course record.
The Englishman looked poised to become the third player on the PGA Tour this year to sign for a sub-60 round. However, the nerves seemed to get the best of him.
“How many nine-footers are you going to get to shoot 59,” Skinns said after his round.
“Tough not to be a little bit disappointed, but I want to just look back on how in control mentally I felt, how I kept attacking. Wasn’t thinking about the future at all, which is the thing I’m going to take away from today.”
Skinns started his day on the back nine and opened with back-to-back birdies. He added four straight birdies on Holes 14-17 before he made a par to turn in 30 strokes.
The former Tennessee Volunteer went nuclear on his back nine, making six birdies in the next eight holes to finish his round with a 60.
Skinns explained that if he could do it again, he would change the putting line on that last hole.
“Just broke way more than I thought,” Skinns explained. “I thought it was more downgrain than across the grain. That’s this golf course. Sometimes, the grain is a little different to what you think.”
However, he did not focus on missing the short putt at the ninth.
“There was a lot out there that I got right, so I’m going to focus on the ones that I got right,” he said.
Skinns should focus on what he did right because his putter was red hot all day.
The 42-year-old made 135 feet worth of putts to lead the field. He picked up 3.730 strokes in putting to sit No. 2 in the field.
“Great to see a couple go in that maybe some days don’t,” he said. “I was able to keep the momentum going, which is what I was most pleased about, and I never thought about the score too much, just where I was going to hit the next shot.”
Despite a clean scorecard, Skinns only saw five fairways all day. However, his approach game made up for that, as he hit 16-of-18 greens and is No. 1 in the field in approach to the green, picking up 4.996 strokes gained.
Skinns’ short game made up for his struggles off the tee, allowing him to make history and take an early lead in Mississippi. He will tee off with Chandler Phillips and Vince Whaley at 2:18 p.m. ET for Round 2 of the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
