Munoz's magical 59: A historic round for the ages at LIV Golf Indianapolis showdown

Khaleej Times

15 hours ago

Did Sebastian Munoz play one of the best rounds of golf in history?
Last week, the 32-year-old Colombian on the LIV Golf League with Torque GC, produced something truly remarkable. At Chatham Hills in Indiana, he opened the LIV Golf Indianapolis with a blistering 12-under-par 59, becoming just the third player in LIV history to break 60.
With the feat, he joined an illustrious company. His captain, Joaquin Niemann, shot 59 at Mayakoba in 2024, and Bryson DeChambeau posted a 58 at Greenbrier in 2023. Yet Munoz's round carried its own unique twist: it included a double bogey. Records show it is the first sub-60 round in global golf history that features a double.
Played over Pete Dye's 7,143-yard par-71 layout, the drama of Munoz's round began quietly. Starting on the second hole in the shotgun format, he opened par–par–birdie–double. Standing at one over par through four holes, it looked like an average day in elite golf. But then, on the 6th hole, everything changed.
Electrifying stretches
A chip-in birdie sparked one of the most electrifying stretches ever seen. Munoz rattled off eight straight birdies, briefly paused for a par on the 14th, then resumed the birdie blitz, rolling in five more in succession to close. That made it 13 birdies in his final 14 holes - 14 in total - an astonishing feat.
His putter was just as hot as his irons. During his run, he holed three putts from 14–17 feet, then added three more from 15–21 feet between the 16th and 18th. For context, the record for consecutive birdies on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour is nine, and the most birdies in a round are 13 and 12, respectively. Munoz equalled LIV Golf's best mark of 13 birdies in a single round, and nearly rewrote the books.
Munoz, who had never gone lower than 60 in his professional career, was understandably thrilled. 'I've done eight birdies in a row. I tied my personal record. But 13 out of 14, it's insane. I've never sniffed that. Really proud of the way I handled the start of the day and how I just sorted through,' he said afterward.
Stat spotlight
The numbers back up the brilliance. He hit 13 of 14 fairways (92.86%), found 16 of 18 greens in regulation (88.89%), and needed just 22 putts all day, an average of 1.22 per hole. Hitting that many fairways and greens is impressive on its own, but to convert with the putter the way he did elevated the round into history.
Reflecting on his final hole, the par-4 first, Munoz explained: 'We had 127 left (after hitting a three wood off the tee), a little downwind. So we ended up playing for a 118 shot with my 50-degree, which I like a lot. Once I hit it, I saw it going straight at it. I was like, Ooh, it's going to be good.
"Then I couldn't see it, but Sergio Garcia and Carlos Ortiz gave me the thumbs up like it was tight. I ended up with a three-footer up the hill, pretty straight. I just reminded myself, stay in the moment, keep breathing, one more time, keep it simple, and it worked.'
Munoz, who turned professional in 2015 and has played on the Web.com Tour, DP World Tour, PGA Tour, and now LIV Golf, owns four worldwide wins and once reached a career-high of 49 in the OWGR.
Final Flourish
His week in Indiana ended in equally dramatic fashion, as he edged Jon Rahm in a playoff with rounds of 61, 67, and 63 for a 54-hole total of 191, 22-under-par. That result also secured him a fourth-place finish in the season-long LIV Individual Standings.
Golf has always treated the sub-60 round as sacred ground. On the PGA Tour, it has only been achieved a handful of times in more than 100 years of competition. Jim Furyk's 58 at TPC River Highlands in 2016 remains the benchmark, while legends like David Duval, Phil Mickelson, and Rory McIlroy have each had their brushes with 59.
For Munoz to join that elite company is remarkable enough, but to do so while carding a double bogey makes his 59 unique in the game's history.
It highlighted not only the brilliance of his ball-striking and putting, but also his resilience and the ability to rebound from a costly mistake and then deliver one of the most devastating stretches of birdies ever recorded.
LIV Golf may still be writing its chapters in the sport's history books, but Munoz's masterpiece at Chatham Hills has already secured its place in golfing folklore. It was not simply a low round, t was a reminder of why golf is so compelling: the possibility of perfection, interrupted by human error, then redeemed in a way that leaves fans shaking their heads in disbelief.