Golf excellence clearly runs in Arnold Palmer's family.
On Thursday, Sam Saunders, who is the late Palmer's grandson, shot a 12-under 59 during the first round of the Web.com Tour Championship. ESPN.com reported the news, noting it was just one shot off the tour record of 58, which was set by Stephan Jaeger in 2016.
Saunders became just the seventh player to shoot a round below 60 on the Web.com Tour.
Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel shared his scorecard:
Saunders started on the back nine and wasted little time establishing himself as the player to beat in the early going with three straight birdies and six birdies in all on the front nine. He appeared to be on his way to an impressive showing, though not a sub-60 outing, through the first 12 holes, but he caught fire down the stretch with a birdie on each of the last six holes.
The Web.com Tour captured the drama on his last hole when he needed one more birdie at the Atlantic Beach Country Club near Jacksonville, Florida, to break 60.
Despite his record-threatening first round, he is still only three strokes ahead of Matt Atkins and Steve Wheatcroft, who both shot nine-under 62s Thursday.
The ESPN.com story explained Saunders is looking to regain his PGA Tour card during a four-event Web.com Tour Finals. There are 25 PGA Tour cards at stake, and he was in 24th place following the first three events.
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