Ernie Els, Royal Melbourne and one of golf's greatest rounds ever

What if I told you that a little more than 20 years ago one of golf’s greatest players played one of golf’s greatest rounds on one of golf’s greatest courses. Is that a story you might be interested in?

I thought so. So let me explain.

This week, the Australian Open returned to Royal Melbourne for the first time in 34 years. Golf purists and architecture nerds have been watching at all hours of the night to see Rory McIlroy and a strong field take on Alister MacKenzie’s sandbelt masterpiece. But it was here in 2004, on the composite course at Royal Melbourne, that golf witnessed one of the game’s greatest rounds.

The tournament was the Heineken Classic, and it was being played at Royal Melbourne for the third straight year. In 2002, Ernie Els won the joint European Tour/Australasia event by five shots. In 2003, he defended his title. Needless to say, all eyes were on the World No. 3, 34 years old at the time, as he looked to three-peat.

The event took place in February 2004. Els started the year well, after winning six times in 2003. He won the Sony Open in Hawaii, flew to Thailand and finished in the top 10 at the Johnnie Walker Classic, then flew to Australia for the Heineken. Jet lag and fatigue were just part of the schedule for Els in this peak period of his career.

In the opening round, the Big Easy was paired with a young Australia up-and-comer named Adam Scott. The 23-year-old had one PGA Tour win and was just six weeks away from a famous victory in Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Scott opened the Heineken with a flawless bogey-free 66.

He found himself six back of Els by day’s end.

Playing the best golf of his career, Els posted a first-round 60, breaking Royal Melbourne’s course record by two while outpacing his next closest competitor by four shots.

The thing is, it could have been even better. After a two-putt par on the 350-yard opening hole, Els barely missed a shot for the next three hours. When his 25-foot birdie putt dropped on the 14th green, he was already 12 under par.

At this point in 2004, no one on either the DP World Tour or Australasia Tour had ever shot a sub-60 round. Only three players (Al Geiberger, Chip Beck and David Duval) had done so on the PGA Tour.

Els misjudged an approach to the 15th hole, missing the green and making a bogey. He immediately bounced back with a birdie on the 16th, but pars at the 17th and 18th holes left him one shot short of a 59.

“I think I’ll be talking about for a long time,” Els told media after signing his scorecard.

Just how good was Els’ round? Well, 156 players teed it up that Thursday at Royal Melbourne. The average score was 70.93. So Els beat the field’s average by 10.93 shots. Since 1983, around 20,000 rounds have been played on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. Only 35 have beaten the field average by 10.93 shots or more.

In fact, when scanning through some of the best modern players in the game and their best statistical rounds in that period, Els’ 60 at Royal Melbourne betters them all.

But the game now is far improved from the levels of the early 2000s, right?

Wrong.

In the last three years on the PGA Tour, there hasn’t been a single round that has beaten the field average by more than 10.9 shots. Take Xander Schauffele for example. He tied the lowest round in a major with his opening 62 at Valhalla in the 2024 PGA Championship. That day, the field average was 71.3. He beat the field average by 9.3 shots.

Els finished his opening round at Royal Melbourne with 11 birdies, five pars, one eagle and one bogey. He hit 13 of 15 fairways and 17 of 18 greens, needed just 25 putts and had an average drive of 325 yards. Those numbers are incredibly impressive on any course but for anyone who knows Royal Melbourne, they steer to the unfathomable.

Spoiler alert: Els went on to win the tournament and became just the fifth player in DP World Tour history to successfully win the same tournament three consecutive times. In his 12 rounds at Royal Melbourne, Els was a remarkable 52 under par.

His 12-under-par 60 in 2004 remains etched, literally, into Royal Melbourne’s history, on the club’s composite course record board. Els couldn’t resist taking a picture with it when he returned to captain the International team at the Presidents Cup in 2019.

So as you watch the Australian Open and Royal Melbourne this weekend, spare a thought for that day in 2004 when the crown jewel of Australian golf courses witnessed one of the greatest rounds ever played.