AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka was once asked if someone could shoot 59 at the Masters, breaking golf’s most hallowed scoring barrier.
The look that crossed his face was both withering and comical.
“Have you played here?” Koepka replied.
“Not yet,” he was informed.
“Yeah,” Koepka said, “I could tell by the question.”
It’s a fair point. Only two players have ever managed a round of 63 at Augusta National, much less approached the mythical 59. Nick Price first set the record four decades ago, and Greg Norman matched it with a first-round 63 in 1996 before his infamous Sunday collapse.
That 63 remains the highest single-round scoring record across all major championships.
“I’m surprised that it has been that long,” said Justin Rose, who twice has shot 65 at Augusta, including in last year’s first round. He followed that with a final-round 66 to force a playoff against Rory McIlroy, which he ultimately lost.
Rose also has shot 81 here, by the way.
“There’s so many great players capable of putting up that number,” Rose said. “The course lends itself most ideally to that score on a Sunday, but Sunday is also when the course is at its most maxed out in terms of green speeds and firmness. That counteracts some of those more accessible hole locations we traditionally see.”
There’s reason to believe the record might fall eventually. Scores keep trending downward in majors. Branden Grace became the first to shoot 62 at the British Open in 2017, but four players have matched him in just the past three years at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, where Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele both fired 62s in 2024.
Technology and player development have dramatically improved too. Players hit the ball farther and just as accurately, forcing Augusta National to continually evolve to keep pace.
Those changes are precisely why the record still stands.
The most obvious adjustment is length. When Norman shot his 63, the course played at 6,925 yards. This week, it’ll play at 7,565 yards when the first round begins.
“That’s a big thing – a lot of mid-irons into small targets. Wedges into small targets,” Rose explained. “If you’re on and it’s your day, sure, you can make a lot of birdies. But you’re also going to make a bogey or two quite easily.”
Anthony Kim set the single-round record for birdies at the Masters with 11 in 2009, but he dropped enough shots to finish with “just” a 65. Birdies alone probably aren’t enough to challenge the record; it would take an eagle or two as well.
That’s possible. Four players have eagled consecutive holes in the same round here, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
It just isn’t easy. Nothing is at Augusta National.
“The scores are always a little higher than you think they’re going to be,” said 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman, who has just three rounds in the 60s — all 69s — in 20 competitive rounds at the Masters. “When you come out here and play, you feel like you can go shoot low numbers. It’s just not a lot of the low numbers out here.”
“It’s a lot more of a grind than people think,” Harman added.
The second nine typically plays about a stroke more difficult than the first, thanks partly to water hazards through Amen Corner. Seven players have gone out in 30, most recently Min Woo Lee in 2022, but only two have come home in 29: Mark Calcavecchia in 1991’s final round and David Toms in 1998’s Sunday finish.
So going back to that question posed to Koepka about shooting 59 at the Masters? It would require pairing the best first nine ever with the best second nine ever.
“If I want to go play the member tees and maybe play like, 15 holes,” said the five-time major winner, “yeah, I could do that.”
