By Ryan Herrington
You would hardly have known how historic the moment was with the nonchalant way Oliver Fisher tapped in his par putt on the 18th hole at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course on Friday. Only a few seconds later did the 30-year-old Englishman reveal a wry smile and a look that showed he knew just what he had accomplished.

Nineteen times golfers have shot 60 on the European Tour, but famously never a 59 until Fisher capped a remarkable round under perfect playing conditions at the Portgual Masters.

Fisher put himself in position for something special by playing the front nine on the Arnold Palmer-designed course in Vilamoura, Portugal, in seven-under 28, with five birdies and an eagle.

“I obviously knew I was in with a shout of shooting a low one when I made a good start,” said Fisher, who posted an even-par 71 during Thursday’s opening round. “It was important to keep reminding myself that I was out there to have some fun, enjoy it, and not get too tentative. When you’ve got a good round going, it’s easy to do that.”

Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Oliver Fisher celebrates after finishing with a round of 59, the first 59 shot on the European Tour during Day Two of the 2018 Portugal Masters.

Fisher kept the momentum going with birdies on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to get to 10 under, needing just two more birdies on the final six holes for the magic number.

He got one of them on the par-4 15th, and the other on the par-5 17th. But in between came arguably the biggest moment of the round. Fisher missed the green on the par-4 16th, but saved a par from 20 feet.

Needing par on the home hole, Fisher split the fairway with his drive and hit his approach to roughly 40 feet. He then nearly jumped 59 and went right to a 58, just missing his birdie attempt.

5️⃣ 9️⃣#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/SDUGLA3SPS

— ?59 on the European Tour? (@EuropeanTour) September 21, 2018

Ranked 287th in the world, Fisher entered the tournament 72nd in the Race to Dubai, his tour card for 2019 seemingly in hand. That hasn’t always been the case for the former Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup player, whose lone European Tour win came in 2011 at the Czech Open.

“Very different to a couple of years ago on this green,” Fisher said, “when I was fighting to keep my card. I had that in the back of my mind, thinking, ‘You know what, things could be worse.’ It was fun, I tried to enjoy it.”

The 12-under performance jumped Fisher into a share of the lead midway through the day with Australia’s Lucas Hebert. Fisher’s best finish this season is a runner-up showing at the Qatar Masters.

The post Oliver Fisher becomes the first golfer to shoot a 59 in European Tour history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Editor’s Note: The USA historically swept the Friday afternoon fourballs to take a 5 ½ – 2½ lead over Europe.

By Keely Levins
The Europeans won the morning, winning two matches, halving one and losing one. It was a bit of a surprise, as the Americans came into the event as the favourites. But no matter how strong a group of individuals is in stroke play, there’s no way to predict how they will fare in the difficult team match play formats of the Solheim Cup. Friday morning was foursomes, also known as alternate shot. In the afternoon, it was four-ball. And four-ball suited the Americans much better.

No European team led a match at any time in the afternoon.

The first match to finish was Lizette Salas and Angel Yin, who defeated Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen, 6 and 5, to become the second four-ball team to win by that wide a margin in Solheim Cup history. Salas was dominant, making five birdies on the front nine. Her weekend is off to an impressive start; in the morning, Salas was part of the only alternate-shot match to win a point for the Americans.

Danielle Kang continued to revel in her first Solheim Cup experience, partnering with Michelle Wie to defeat Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Madelene Sagstrom, 2 and 1.

The two Brittanys, Lang and Lincicome, had eight birdies and an eagle between them to beat Caroline Masson and Florentyna Parker, 3 and 2.

The final match of the day, meanwhile, was the tightest.

Gerina Piller and Stacy Lewis, who lost their morning match, were 1 up through 16 holes against Charley Hull and impressive rookie Georgia Hall. Both Piller and Lewis put it close on the par-3 17th. Hull’s birdie putt almost fell, but she and her partner had to settle for pars. Lewis was able to make her birdie putt to win, 2 and 1.

For the first time in the history of the Solheim Cup, Team USA swept a session.

“We want the history on Sunday night,” said U.S. Captain Juli Inkster after the completion of the afternoon session. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. I know Annika is going to fire her team up.”

Her team is on the same page, echoing the sentiment that anything can happen in the Solheim Cup and that the only option is to keep the pressure on as they move into Saturday.

“We just have to do the same thing we did today,” said Wie. “Just go out there and not think big picture but just win point by point, shot by shot, hole by hole. I think when you look too far into the future, you look too big picture,I think that’s when things can get lost.”

The Saturday morning matches will be alternate shot.

7:10 a.m. – Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Caroline Masson (EUR) v. Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson (USA)
7:22 a.m. – Mel Reid and Emily Pedersen (EUR) v. Paula Creamer and Austin Ernst (USA)
7:34 a.m. – Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Hall (EUR) v. Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller (USA)
7:46 a.m. – Catriona Matthew and Karine Icher (EUR) v. Michelle Wie and Danielle Kang (USA)

Related: Danielle Kang was built for the Solheim Cup

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