Patrick Reed shot a rare 59 at the Hong Kong Open on Saturday to catapult the former Masters champion into a three-shot lead heading into the final round.
The 2018 winner at Augusta made 11 birdies during his torrid 11-under-par third round to move to 18-under overall at the prestigious Asian Tour event.
Rounds under 60 are extremely rare in golf.
There have been just over a dozen on the American PGA Tour and there had been none on the Asian Tour until earlier this year.
Favorite lies were played, so Reed’s feat is not officially valid.
Reed’s torrid round at Fanling was the lowest score ever recorded at the Hong Kong Open, Asia’s oldest professional golf tournament, surpassing Ian Poulter’s score of 60 in 2010.
“I probably had one of my worst warm-ups of my life,” Reed, 34, who is one of several high-profile players to join the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour, told reporters.
“I looked at my caddy and he said, ‘Hey, a warm-up is a warm-up. Let’s go play golf. Some of your best rounds are the result of a bad warm-up.'”
The American started with five birdies in a row and made four more on the trot to finish in style.
“Honestly, I thought it could have been lower,” he added.
In March, Reed’s playing partner and fellow American John Catlin scored a 59 at the International Series Macau for the under-60 opening round of the Asian tour.
Ahead of the final round in Hong Kong, Reed holds a three-shot lead over India’s Rashid Khan and Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong as he targets a maiden victory on the Asian circuit.
Defending champion Ben Campbell of New Zealand is still behind at 14 under.
This is the 63rd edition of the Hong Kong Open.
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