Seven staggering golf records that will NEVER be broken
1. Two holes-in-one in a round
It’s been estimated that scoring two holes-in-one in a round is a 67,000,000-1 shot. In other words, almost beyond comprehension. And yet at the South African Open in February, England’s Dale Whitnell pulled off this astonishing feat.
The 36-year-old aced the 179-yard 2nd and then drained his tee-shot at the 149-yard 12th.
Remarkably, it’s not unique as 2023 Open champion Brian Harman achieved the feat in the 2015 Barclays while England’s John Hudson (1971 Martini International) and American Frank Bensel Jr (2024 US Senior Open) have also done this most unlikely of doubles.
Two aces may be matched but surely no-one will ever manage three in a single round, will they?
2. Tiger Woods wins the US Open by 15 shots
Woods was the clear favourite to win the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000.
He’d already won four times that season and that included a five-shot triumph at the Memorial Tournament in his final start before Pebble.
But no-one could have envisaged him demolishing a world-class field like this.
Tiger opened with a 65 to secure a narrow one-shot advantage but then raced six clear at halfway thanks to a 69 in tough conditions.
That lead was stretched to 10 via a 71 and a closing 67 gave Woods a ridiculous winning margin of 15.
Tiger finished at 12-under, his nearest rivals Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez ending as joint-runners up on +3.
His 15-stroke victory beat the 13-shot margin set by Old Tom Morris in the 1862 Open at Prestwick.
3. Rhein Gibson shoots an incredible 55
It still causes great excitement any time a golfer goes on “59 watch” and threatens to break the magic mark of 60.
The feat remains remarkably rare. Al Geiberger in 1977 was the first to crash through the barrier and only 14 players have managed 59s on the PGA Tour overall.
Jim Furyk shaved a shot off the record when firing a 58 in the 2016 Travelers Championship, while in 2024 Chile’s Cristobal De Solar carded an incredible 57 at the Korn Ferry’s Astara Golf Championship in Colombia.
That remains the lowest round in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event but a delve into the Guinness World Records takes us even lower.
In 2012 at the River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma, Rhein Gibson fired 12 birdies and two eagles on the par 71.
That added up to an extraordinary round of 55. Beat that!
4. Byron Nelson’s 11 consecutive wins
We’ve become used to Scottie Scheffler stringing back-to-back wins together, although the current World No.1 has never got close to Tiger Woods’ seven straight PGA Tour wins across 2006 and 2007.
Woods also managed six straight wins in another hot-streak between 1999 and 2000.
Both are incredible but still leave Tiger way behind the record.
That was achieved by the great Byron Nelson in 1945 when he pieced together 11 straight PGA Tour wins, eventually ending that season with 18 victories.
It has to be one of the most unbreakable records in golf.
5. Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors
On another level, perhaps Jack Nicklaus holds golf’s holy grail. His tally of 18 majors is testament to an incredible longevity which requires maintaining levels of excellence and also avoiding injury.
Tiger Woods looked a certainty at one point to reel in Nicklaus when winning his 14th major in 2008 but he’s added just one since (2019 Masters) and it’s virtually impossible to see him landing another after a string of surgeries down the years.
6. Jack Nicklaus playing in 146 straight majors
The ‘Golden Bear’ deservedly gets a second entry. Counting from the 1962 Masters to the 1998 US Open, there were a total of 146 majors – and Nicklaus played in all of them!
It’s remarkable that illness or a back twinge didn’t rule him out at some point during that 26-year period.
Adam Scott has the longest active streak going with 96 but the Aussie needs to play the next 51 in a row (nearly 13 years worth) to beat Nicklaus.
7. Kelecchi Ezihie playing golf for 36 hours non-stop
Let’s end with another feat that measures incredible stamina.
Early in 2025, British assistant pro, Isaac Rowlands, wrote himself into the record books by playing golf for 32 hours in a row at Lofoten Links in Norway.
But in June 2025, Kelechi Ezihie – a 27-year-old from Nigeria – broke that mark after an even longer marathon session at Huntington Crescent Club on Long Island, New York.
Ezihie began his round at 6pm and, after being told mid-round that the record was 32 hours, decided to extend his test of endurance and kept going for 36.
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