ATLANTA (April 13, 2022) – Five PGA TOUR Champions greats who have touched professional golf’s most rarefied air – a round below 60 – will tee off when the Mitsubishi Electric Classic returns to TPC Sugarloaf May 2-8.
Jim Furyk, Paul Goydos, Stuart Appleby, Kevin Sutherland and the previously announced David Duval boast 13 PGA TOUR Champions victories and 42 PGA TOUR wins between them.
Additionally, Furyk has the distinction of being the only player to ever score below 60 twice, including an eye-popping 58 during the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship.
“We’re thrilled to welcome five golfers who have achieved our sport’s most difficult feat to this year’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic,” says Ashley Hamilton, tournament director. “Very few players have ever shot a round below 60 in the history of the PGA TOUR, and it’s only happened at one PGA TOUR Champions event when Sutherland accomplished it in 2014. History’s been made at our tournament and TPC Sugarloaf numerous times, and it could happen again this year considering the only player to ever shoot below 60 twice is in our field.”
The quintet will be joined by 73 other PGA TOUR Champions professionals who are vying for the $1.8 million prize purse and to increase their standing in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points list.
The five members of golf’s most exclusive fraternity include:
- Jim Furyk, who broke 60 for the first time at the 2013 BMW Championship. He has won three times on the PGA TOUR Champions circuit, including his debut at the Ally Championship and the 2021 U.S. Senior Open Championship, on his way to becoming the tour’s Rookie of the Year two years ago. He has 17 PGA TOUR victories to his name, including the 2003 U.S. Open Championship.
- Stuart Appleby, who famously ended a four-year winless streak on the PGA TOUR with a 59 at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic and was named that year’s Comeback Player of the Year as a result. He made his PGA TOUR Champions debut last September at the PURE Insurance Championship, adding to a storied PGA TOUR career that included nine victories (topped off by three successive wins at the Mercedes Championships) and five Presidents’ Cup appearances.
- Paul Goydos, who, along with Stuart Appleby, became the first pair of golfers to score 59s in the same year. Goydos shot 59 during the opening round of the 2010 John Deere Classic. Since joining the PGA TOUR Champions in 2014, he has 46 top-10 finishes and five victories, including the 2016 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He finished in a tie for second at last year’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic.
- Kevin Sutherland, who became the first person on the PGA TOUR Champions to shoot a 59 during the second round of the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. Since joining the PGA TOUR Champions in 2014, Sutherland has racked up five victories, including last year’s Cologuard Classic and the 2020 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
- David Duval, who became only the third golfer in PGA TOUR history to score a 59 during the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, capping off his historic day with an eagle on the 18th hole. In the process, he also became the first golfer ever to score a 59 during a tournament’s final round. The former world No. 1 made his PGA TOUR Champions debut at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at Hualalai in January, extending an impressive career that includes capturing the 2001 Open Championship and 1999 PLAYERS Championship.
The remaining field of competitors will be released in the coming weeks.
To purchase tickets, please visit: mitsubishielectricclassic.com/tickets.
For more information, visit: mitsubishielectricclassic.com.
About Mitsubishi Electric Classic
The Mitsubishi Electric Classic returns to the metro Atlanta area May 2 – 8, 2022, and looks forward to welcoming Players on PGA TOUR Champions such as Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and Jim Furyk. The Mitsubishi Electric Classic proudly stands as a premier golf tournament on the PGA TOUR Champions, but this event is much more than a golf tournament. The event, which will benefit local charities through the Gwinnett Championship Foundation Inc., has raised over $3 million since the first tournament in 2013. Follow the Mitsubishi Electric Classic online at mitsubishielectricclassic.com, on facebook.com/mitsubishielectricclassic, on Twitter @MEClassicGolf and on Instagram @mitsubishielectricclassic.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers aged 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour, on Instagram @pgatourchampions and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on GOLF Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Tournament programming is available via 25-plus TV linear partners in 180-plus countries and territories, with 25 channels carrying long-form and/or highlights coverage, and 200-plus hours of live coverage distributed in 135-plus countries and territories. Programming is also available via the OTT platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR in every market outside of the United States, excluding China and Korea, with live coverage distributed in 130-plus countries and territories.
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