Sebastian Munoz shoots 59 at LIV Golf Indy on 'easier track' — after early double bogey

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While all the talk on the PGA Tour during this week's BMW Championship has centered around a Caves Valley course that was rebuilt to prevent low scores, the same wasn't exactly true during the penultimate LIV Golf event in Indianapolis.
Sebastian MuNoz proved that in a big way.
The Torque GC star, who started on the second hole at the par-71 The Club at Chatham Hills, was 1 over par after four holes thanks to a double bogey on the fifth hole. But from there, he bloodied the Pete Dye-designed course, posting birdies on 13 of the last 14 holes en route to his first 59 in competition.
He leads Dustin Johnson, who shot an opening-round 62, by three strokes heading into Saturday's action.
Munoz admitted the course was vulnerable.
"There's a lot of birdies out there. It's a little easier track than what we usually play, but you've still got to make the putts, you've still got to hit the shots," he said. "It was a good show for the city of Indianapolis today, and hope that I can keep playing good and having a lot cooler moments in the next couple days."
Double didn't slow down Sebastian Munoz
But whether or not the course was too receptive, Munoz was elated with the way he overcame early adversity, stringing together eight straight birdies, to take a commanding lead.
"Awesome, awesome day. Feeling right now a bit tired. It was a lot of mental strength out there," he said. "I started decent. A couple pars, a birdie and then a couple bad shots in a row, ended up making double.
"Kind of forgave myself, honestly. I didn't want to hold on and have a grudge all day, so I kind of forgave myself and ended up chipping in for birdie on 6 and birdieing 7 and 8 and 9 and 10, 11, 12, 13. It was really nice."
Surprisingly, Munoz thought perhaps teammate Joaquin Niemann might have a chance to flirt with 59 after starting the day with three straight birdies. Instead, Niemann "cooled off" to the tune of a 64 and it was Munoz who made a run at the historic card. Heading into the final individual event of the season, Niemann is the LIV points leader. Next week, LIV Golf Michigan will serve as the league's 2025 team championship event, where 13 teams will compete for the crown.
"I got a sense, like, when we were watching Joaquín (with teammate Carlos Ortiz) on one of the screens on the course and we saw that he started hot, and I'm look, ooh, he's going to have a chance for 59," Munoz said. "Then I just kept making birdies, kept making birdies, and all of a sudden I'm like, ooh, I've got a chance.
"I hit really good shots, really committed shots, swung the ball really good and made the clutch putts."
Final hole added drama for Sebastian Munoz
Muñoz chipped in from the back of the green on No. 6 for birdie, quickly righting the ship after his double, and then kept rolling, all the way to the first hole, where he knew a birdie would make for a 59. Although he and his caddie had discussed hitting driver there, they called an audible when the moment surfaced.
"He switched it up on me and he said, Let's hit 3-wood. I feel like if we're in the fairway, we're going to have a good chance. It's one of the clubs I don't really love in my bag, but obviously, it just required a little bit more focus, a little bit more trust, and we managed to pull through and did it, and we had 127 left, a little downwind. So we ended up playing for a 118 shot with my 50-degree, which I like a lot," he said. "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 both gave me the hands up like it was tight. So really good, and then I ended up having a three-footer up the hill pretty straight, and it kind of reminded me of a putt I hit in the U.S. Open qualifier in sectionals that I had a three-footer to make it through and I missed it, and I felt like I rushed it. I wasn't all of myself there.
"So I just reminded myself, just stay here in the moment, keep breathing, one more time, just keep it simple, and it worked."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Sebastian Munoz shoots 59 at LIV Golf Indianapolis on 'easier track'