What is the lowest single round in men’s major championship golf?

For the best part of four-and-a-half decades, the record for the lowest single round in men’s major championship was 63, set by American Johnny Miller in the final round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club in 1973. In a remarkable display of ball striking, on one of the toughest golf courses in the world, Miller birdied the first four holes, three-putted the par-3 eighth hole for bogey and made five further birdies on the back nine for his eight-under-par total. In so doing, he made up a six-shot deficit on the overnight leaders, which included compatriot Arnold Palmer, to win by a single shot.

Over the years, many other players shot 63 in a major championship, but 62 remained elusive. That was, of course, until July 21, 2017, when South African Branden Grace finally achieved the feat in the third round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Having made the cut by a single shot, on four over par, Grace birdied the opening hole, followed by the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth, to make the turn in a five-under-par total of 29. He made further birdies on the fourteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth and, with no bogeys on his card, came home in a three-under-par total of 33, for a record-breaking eight-under-par aggregate of 62. Despite his heroics in the third round, there was to be no fairytale ending for Grace; in the fourth and final round, he shot a level-par 70 to finish tied sixth, eight strokes behind wire-to-wire winner, Jordan Spieth.