Historic 59 carded with shocking finish Sunday but not at Tour Championship
David Kocher of the Korn Ferry shot an incredible 12-under 59 Sunday at the Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho.
While Viktor Hovland put on a clinic at the PGA Tour Championship, there were plenty of fireworks on the Korn Ferry Tour Sunday as well. David Kocher skied up the leaderboard with an incredible 12-under 59.
Despite his best efforts, Kocher finished two strokes behind Chan Kim at the Albertsons Boise Open. Kim’s victory in Idaho marks his second victory in as many weeks.
Kocher, meanwhile, recorded the third 59 on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, an incredible feat considering a sub-60 round is often regarded as golf’s ‘perfect score.’
His final round in Idaho got off to a blistering start.
Kocher, who played collegiately at the University of Maryland, made seven birdies on the front nine to go out with a 7-under 29.
The former Terrapin then cooled off a bit, making just one birdie over his next five holes. But he quickly found his magic again at the par-4 15th.
Kocher made a birdie there.
On the next hole, the par-5 16th, he kept the pedal to the metal by making an eagle-three.
At that point, Kocher needed one more birdie to reach golf’s elusive number. At the short par-3 17th, Kocher found the putting surface, but he two-putted for par. That set up the drama at the 404-yard par-4 18th, as Kocher needed a birdie to shoot 59.
After finding the fairway, Kocher stuck his second shot to about 12 feet.
David Kocher makes a birdie on his 72nd hole to shoot 59 at the Korn Ferry Tour's @BoiseOpen. It's the third 59 of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour. pic.twitter.com/pbiU0nruRv
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) August 27, 2023
He then drained the putt, but it proved to not be enough in the end.
Kim would shoot an impressive 7-under 64 of his own to race past Kocher and the rest of the field to claim another victory.
Kocher has won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour himself. In 2020, he won the El Bosque Mexico Championship; in 2022, he won the El Bosque Mexico Championship.
Now, Kocher hopes he can keep that momentum going as the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs continue in mid-September at the Simmons Bank Open in Tennessee.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.