Heading into the RBC Canadian Open, there have been three players who have managed to make seven consecutive birdies on the PGA Tour so far this season.
It is Adam Hadwin, Sepp Straka and Jake Knapp who have birdied seven holes in a row. And if you are wondering, Scottie Scheffler‘s longest run of successive birdies this year currently stands at four.
The current crop have a long way to go if they are going to set a new record on the PGA Tour however.
There have been two players who have managed to make nine birdies in a row, with Kevin Chappell becoming the second man to do so in 2019 on his way to posting a round of 59 at the Military Tribute at the Greenbrier.
The player who broke the PGA Tour record for most birdies in a row at the 2009 Canadian Open
The first instance of a player making nine straight birdies came a decade earlier at the 2009 Canadian Open.
Remarkably, the player involved only finished the week at Glen Abbey in a tie for eighth, with his birdie blitz coming in a round in which he finished seven under par.
Mark Calcavecchia was coming towards the end of his PGA Tour career when he teed it up north of the border 16 years ago. It had been nearly two decades since his one major victory at the 1989 Open Championship.
He had also won the Canadian Open in 2005. It would prove to be his penultimate PGA Tour win.
But he managed to roll back the years in 2009. Calcavecchia started his second round on the 10th hole, and went on to birdie every hole between the 12th and the second.
The remarkable coincidence as Mark Calcavecchia broke the PGA Tour record
It would be interesting to know just how many players in the current game know the record for the most birdies in a row.
As Calcavecchia confirmed after his round, he was very much aware of the record as his run got going.
“Yeah, that was certainly fun. I just got on a great streak. I knew I needed to play a good round just to make the cut, obviously. Made no putts on Thursday,” he said.
“And I started on 12. I hit a good five iron in there about four or five feet, and made that.
“12 was a good five iron, five footer, we’ll say, for birdie. 13, I laid up, kind of chunked the sand wedge on the front edge about 12 feet short, made that. Good drive and a seven iron on 14 to about eight feet, made that.
“15 was a little nine iron to about 10 feet, made that. Two good shots on 16 on the green, two-putted. Good drive and eight iron into 17 about 15 feet, made that. Great five wood at 18 about 12 feet, and I missed it. I left it short for my seventh birdie in a row.
“And then at that point I knew the record was eight. And I knew the pin was easy on one, and I hit a good drive and a nice little nine iron in there about four feet, and I was a little nervous over it, but I hit a great putt.
“As I said, I knew what the record was. And then the second hole in the Pro-Am I hit it dead left in the trees and yesterday in the first round — well, two days ago in the first round I hit it dead left in the tall rough, made a six. So Super Caddie over here says, ‘don’t hit it left’.
“So I hit probably the best drive of the day, and hit a nice little five wood right where I wanted to in the middle of the green and liked my putt down there to a foot. I didn’t want any stress on the next putt. I didn’t really — I mean I was trying to make it, but I was also making sure — it was kind of a little downhill. It was an easy putt to get close, putted it down there like that, tapped it in for the ninth one.
“After that, I think adrenaline kicked in a little bit, even more than it already was. And the par three, I just was licking my chops in mid air on an eight iron and flew the green into a back trap. It flew 175 yards. I cannot hit my eight iron 175 yards. So it was just one of those things, and then after that, I couldn’t come close to another birdie.”
In a remarkable turn of events, one of Calcavecchia’s playing partners that day in Ontario was J.P. Hayes. And Hayes was one of the players who saw his record beaten that day, with the American previously making eight birdies in a row.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
