Most Birdies In a Row on the European Tour
What is the European Tour's record for consecutive birdies in the same round of golf in a tour event? The unofficial record is nine birdies in a row; the official record is eight birdies in a row.
We'll explain why the two golfers who made nine birdies in a row don't get the "official recognition," then we'll see the list of all the golfers who do share the official European Tour record.
Matt Wallace, Bernd Wiesberger Made 9 Birdies In a Row
In 2017, at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, Bernd Wiesberg made nine consecutive birdies during the second round. The first birdie in the streak was on the seventh hole, the last came on the 15th hole. Wiesberger made two other birdies during the round, plus two bogeys, and finished with a 63.In 2023, during the third round of the DP World Tour Championship, Matt Wallace made nine consecutive birdies. In fact, Wallace birdied every hole on the back nine to score 27, and he had a 60 for the round.
Nobody else in European Tour history has made more than eight consecutive birdies in the same round. Yet, Wallace's and Wiesberger's nine-in-a-row streaks are not counted as the tour record. Why?
Because both of those streaks happened during rounds played under preferred lies (lift, clean and place). In the European Tour's Records & Achievements compilation, the tour says of Wiesberger's streak, "due to preferred lies in operation does not count as an official record." And in its news article published after Wallace's streak, the tour wrote, "(Wallace's) nine birdies in a row, 12 birdies in a round, nine-hole score of 27 and nine-hole score to par of nine under all match DP World Tour bests but will not go in the record books due to preferred lies being in place."
The Official Record: 8 Birdies In a Row
The official record-holders for most consecutive birdies in a European Tour event are multiple golfers with streaks of eight in a row. Seve Ballesteros was the first to do it at the 1985 Italian Open.Here are all the golfers who've made eight consecutive birdies on the Euro Tour:
- Seve Ballesteros, 1985 Italian Open
- Ian Woosnam, 1985 Benson and Hedges International Open
- Tony Johnstone, 1990 Murphy’s Cup
- John Bickerton, 1995 Portuguese Open
- Mark O’Meara, 1996 Alfred Dunhill Cup
- Raymond Russell, 1997 One 2 One British Masters
- Darren Clarke, 1999 Smurfit European Open
- Marcello Santi, 1999 Turespana Masters
- Marten Olander, 2002 Open de France
- Craig Spence, 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic
- Adri Arnaus, 2021 Italian Open
- Casey Jarvis, 2022 Joburg Open
