For 44 years, 63 was the magic number no one could beat. Then in 2017, Branden Grace shot 62 at Royal Birkdale — the first sub-63 round in men's major championship history.
Lowest Round in Major History
62
Branden Grace
Third round, 2017 Open Championship — Royal Birkdale (8 under par)
Matched by Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
Masters
63
Nick Price (1986)
Greg Norman (1996)
U.S. Open
62
Rickie Fowler (2023)
Xander Schauffele (2023)
The Open
62
Branden Grace (2017)
Royal Birkdale
PGA Championship
63
Shared by several
incl. Brooks Koepka (2018)
The select group of rounds that broke the long-standing 63 barrier in men's major golf.
| Player | Major | Year | Round | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branden Grace | The Open | 2017 | Round 3 | −8 |
| Rickie Fowler | U.S. Open | 2023 | Round 1 | −8 |
| Xander Schauffele | U.S. Open | 2023 | Round 1 | −8 |
The 62 stood as a clean break from the 63 that had served as the major record since 1973. No round of 61 or lower has yet been recorded in a men's major.
The 63 was the gold standard of major-championship scoring for more than four decades. A selection of the most historic.
| Player | Major | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Miller | U.S. Open | 1973 | Final-round 63 at Oakmont to win — the first 63 in major history |
| Nick Price | Masters | 1986 | First 63 at Augusta National |
| Greg Norman | Masters | 1996 | Opening 63 to lead by two |
| Vijay Singh | PGA Championship | 1993 | Tied the then-major record |
| Brooks Koepka | PGA Championship | 2018 | 63 at Bellerive en route to the title |
Outside the majors, professional golf has dipped well below 60. The benchmarks against which major scoring is measured.
59
First Sub-60 Round
Al Geiberger shot 59 in 1977, the first ever on the PGA Tour.
62
Major Record
The lowest in a major remains four shots higher than the tour's all-time best.
Branden Grace shot a 62 in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, the first sub-63 round in men's major championship history. Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele later matched the 62 at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
A 63 was the standing major championship round record for more than 40 years, first shot by Johnny Miller at the 1973 U.S. Open and matched more than 30 times before Branden Grace broke it with a 62 in 2017.
The lowest round at the Masters is 63, shot by Nick Price in 1986 and matched by Greg Norman in the first round of 1996.
No. No player has broken 60 in a men's major championship. The record remains 62, although sub-60 rounds have been recorded in regular PGA Tour events.