Marc Leishman and Cam Smith both bounced towards good form at the Travelers Championship, but even winner Russell Knox was overshadowed by a piece of US PGA Tour history.
Veteran Jim Furyk became the first person to shoot 58 on the world’s top tour, blazing around the TPC River Highlands course with 10 birdies and an eagle as he leapt from 70th to a tie for 5th with some sublime ball-striking.
Knox, of Scotland, was solid rather than spectacular in his 68 that left him alone at 14 under when overnight leader Daniel Berger crashed with a four-over-par 74.
But with Furyk out in the day’s third group, all eyes turned to the 46-year-old who’d only just scraped into the weekend action with a second-round 66.
Furyk was already one of six men to have hit a sub-60 total for 18 holes.
“It's pretty cool. A million and a half rounds played in the history of the PGA Tour and you look at the great names ahead of me. It's humbling to stand alone at 58 … it is really a cool accomplishment,” Furyk said.
“I never thought I'd have the opportunity to shoot 59, so once we accomplished that goal I said, `I had my one chance, I was able to go ahead and birdie the last hole and do it, it'll probably never happen again’, and lo and behold, I made the turn today and said, `Here we go again’.
“It's fun to break that barrier.”
Leishman finished T9, his best finish since a T5 at the Northern Trust Open in February. He shot a classy 66 to end at 10 under, just four behind Knox and leaving him to rue his third-round 71.
Fellow Victorian Aaron Baddeley continued his resurgence and finished at six under and T34 alongside Smith, who is only just finding fitness after a long stomach illness.
Smith, of Queensland, has only made three cuts since becoming ill at the Masters and the result was his best since his T19 at the Houston Open in early April.
Importantly, Smith jumped to 168th on the FedEx Cup standings as he battles to keep his card after a rugged first year on the big tour.
Rod Pampling (-5), Greg Chalmers, Stuart Appleby and Cam Percy (all -4), John Senden (-3) and Matt Jones (-1) all made the cut.
It was Knox’s second win on the US PGA Tour, but his first on American soil after winning last year’s HSBC Champions in China.