Frankie Capan III enjoyed the round of his life on Thursday, shooting 13-unde 58 in the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour's Veritex Bank Championship at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas.
Playing the 7,010-yard, par-71 host course, Capan caught fire in the middle and back half of the round. He made an eagle 3 on the par-5 ninth before making seven-consecutive birdies after that to reach 13 under on the round after four birdies in a row from his second through fifth holes of the day.
Capan was unable to make longer birdie attempts on the final two holes, but he drained a 6-foot putt on the par-5 18th to secure a share of the lowest round in Korn Ferry Tour history against par. His 13-under total gives him a mere three-shot lead in the morning wave of the first round of the event.
The lowest 18-hole round in Korn Ferry Tour history was shot earlier this season, when Cristobal del Solar shot 57 in the opening round of te 2024 Astara Golf Championship on the par-70, 6,254-yard Pacos course at Country Club de Bogota in Colombia.
Capan shot the 13th sub-60 round in the history of the Korn Ferry Tour and the third this season. Aldrich Potgeiter shot 59 on the same course as del Solar earlier in the year. For his part, Capan's lowest Korn Ferry Tour round this season was a 63 at the same tournament.
On the year, Capan has made five cuts in eight events on the Korn Ferry Tour, including top-10 finishes in the last two events.
This is also the fifth round of 59 on a major golf tour this year. Joaquin Niemann shot 12-under 59 in the first round of the LIV Golf Mayakoba event in Mexico. American John Catlin became the first player to shoot 59 on the Asian Tour en route to winning the International Series Macau event.
