Kenny Perry Just Misses 59 at Travelers

There is one thing in golf that is miles bigger than a major championship or the rare double-eagle. It has only been done three times in the history of golf, with the last time coming in 1999. It's the sub-60 round.

On Thursday, at the Travelers Championship, 48-year-old Kenny Perry had the rare opportunity to match that feat, and shoot a sub-60 round for only the fourth time on the PGA Tour, and the first time on a par-70 golf course. Standing over a 24-foot eagle putt on the par-4 15th hole, Perry was 8-under and looking to move to 10-under, just a shot off the mark with three holes to play.

The eagle putt went begging, and after a great approach shot on the par-3 16th, Perry couldn't get that one to fall either. Needing a birdie-birdie finish to find the number, Perry's short-iron shots let him down and it was "just" a 61 for the 13-time winner on the PGA Tour.

You probably won't find a lot of people that can complain about a round of 61, but Perry had a great chance to join Al Geiberger, Chip Beck and David Duval. Even he admitted after the round that his putter cooled off.

It isn't all that bad. Perry not only tied the course record at TPC River Highlands with his 9-under 61 -- tying Kirk Triplett, Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank and Brad Faxon -- but he is the low man by two shots on a Thursday with no wind and perfect scoring conditions.

Perry admitted after the round that "when I rolled that putt in on 10 I started thinking about (59)," admitting that he was "trying to get to that magical number and (Thursday) was a good day to do it, I just didn't get it done."

Sneaking up behind Perry is Charles Warren and Paul Goydos, who both shot 7-under 63s, along with four other players at 6-under 64.

Maybe nearly as impressive as Perry's 61 was U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who has spent most of his week as far from a practice range as possible. Glover went out on Thursday and shot a 5-under 65 that included just one bogey.