Best 18-Hole Score on LPGA Tour

LPGA Tour Record: Lowest Round

Annika Sorenstam with scorecard for her 59
Annika Sorenstam shows off the scorecard for the first round of 59 in LPGA Tour history. Scott Halleran/Getty Images

The lowest score for one round (18 holes) of golf ever posted on the LPGA Tour is 59. And one golfer holds that record all by herself: Annika Sorenstam.

Sorenstam posted the first, and so far only, 59 on the LPGA Tour during the 2001 Standard Register Ping tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. That was good for 13-under par.

Sorenstam, who was 30 years old at the time, not only set the tour's scoring record, but bettered the previous record by two strokes. Nobody else to that point had scored lower than 61 in an LPGA tournament.

Sorenstam scored 28 on the front nine (which matched the LPGA's 9-hole record at that time) and 31 on the back nine. She had 13 birdies and five pars, and used 25 putts. She hit 13 out of 14 fairways and hit all 18 greens in regulation.

"It was an incredible day, obviously," Sorenstam said in the post-round news conference. "I had a lot of thoughts in my head. I was trying to stay calm and hit good shots, trying to hit it straight every time."

The List: Best-Ever 18-Hole Scores on the LPGA Tour

These are all the scores of 60 and below in tour history:

59

  • Annika Sorenstam, 2001 Standard Register Ping (28-31), Moon Valley Country Club (par 72), Phoenix, Ariz., second round

60

  • Paula Creamer, 2008 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (33-27), Highland Meadows Golf Club (par 71), Sylvania, Ohio, first round
  • Anna Acker-Macosko, 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge (31-29), The Ridge Golf Course (par 71), Auburn, Calif., fourth round
  • Sarah Lee, 2004 Welch's/Fry's Championship (29-31), Dell Urich Golf Course (par 70), Tucson, Ariz., first round
  • Meg Mallon, 2003 Welch's/Fry's Championship (30-30), Dell Urich Golf Course (par 70), Tucson, Ariz., second round

Sorenstam's record 59 was 13-under par, which is also the tour record for most strokes under par in one round. The 60s by Creamer and Acker-Macosko were 11-under, and the Lee/Mallon rounds were 10-under.

Sorenstam won the tournament in which she posted the lowest 18-hole score in LPGA history; so did Creamer among the 60-shooters. But Acker-Macosko, Lee and Mallon were unable to win their tournaments listed above.

Previous 18-Hole Records on the LPGA Tour

We know that Sorenstam was the first golfer to post a 59, and also the first to card any score below 61 in tour history.

Scores of 61, today, are still not that common on the LPGA. But they are becoming increasingly so. Someone had to be the first, however, so who was it? The first LPGA golfer to score 61 for 18 holes was Se Ri Pak. Pak did it during the 1998 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, becoming, at that time, the LPGA record-holder. Only two other golfers (Sorenstam and Karrie Webb) matched Pak's 61 before Sorenstam broke the record with her 59.

And the first 62 in LPGA history? That was recorded by Mickey Wright during the 1964 Tall City Open.