Rex Hospital Open leader misses a 59 by a putt

It’s not like Chris Baker woke up early Friday thinking, “You know, I might make a run at a 59 today.”

Nor was Baker thinking that after he parred the first two holes in the second round of the Rex Hospital Open at the Country Club at Wakefield Plantation.

But things changed, quickly. Baker birdied five of the last seven holes on the front nine. His birdie at the par-5 ninth began a run of seven birdies in a row. When he came to the 18th green, he was 11-under-par for the day on the par-71 course, with a 12-foot birdie putt left for, gulp, a 59.

Baker did not make the putt. No 59. But his 11-under 60 was the lowest round ever shot in the Rex at Wakefield, tying the tournament record set by Jimmy Green in 1998 when it was played at Raleigh Country Club and titled the Carolina Classic.

“Obviously I would love a 59 but 60 is pretty cool, too,” Baker said. “It was a blast.”

And, to his surprise, left him with a seven-shot lead in the Web.com Tour event after he finished at 15-under 127. Luke Guthrie later sliced the lead to four shots with a 62, and Sebastian Cappelen was within three shots when the round was suspended by lightning.

Baker, 33, the pride of Brownstown, Ind., and a former Iowa State golfer, squeezed about as much as he could out of the round.

“It’s funny with golf,” Baker said. “When you’re trying to win a tournament or do something like a 59, I don’t feel as nervous as sometimes when I’m playing average and right on the cut line and trying to make the cut. That’s more nerve-racking.

“When you’re playing well, you’re playing well. Everything is working right. It’s exciting to just keep going.”

Baker, who has not won on the Web.com Tour, kept it going Friday. And he did it in a threesome with two local players, Raleigh’s Grayson Murray and Brad Fritsch, a former Campbell golfer who lives in Holly Springs.

“The hole looked this big to him today,” Fritsch said, forming a wide circle with his arms.

On Baker’s bag was caddie Zak Smith, a Charlotte native and N.C. State alumnus. Smith, 27, said he majored in PGA Golf Management at NCSU and with only one post-school ambition: “Be a professional caddie.”

Smith said he followed the tour for a few weeks in 2015, looking to loop, before getting his first job -- at the 2015 Rex Hospital Open, for Brock Mackenzie. He was on his way.

Baker said the two have been together on and off for the past two and a half years. Smith has caddied in the past for Andrew Putnam, now on the PGA Tour, but he and Baker have made for a good combination. “We have a lot of fun and enjoy ourselves,” Baker said.

Baker tied for 10th in last year’s Rex, with a 72 in the second round. He has had three top-10 finishes on tour this year including a tie for fourth recently in the Nashville Open, and is 27th on the money list.

Baker grew up in Brownstown (“We’ve got two stoplights now,” he said) playing a nine-hole course, Hickory Hills Country Club, and was the state prep champion. After four productive years of college golf at Iowa State, he made his way through golf’s mini-tours, winning the 2009 NGA Hooters Tour Classic and the 2010 River Hills Classic on the eGolf Tour.

A high finish on the eGolf money list gave him an exemption into the Moroccan Open in 2010, which he won.

On the Web.com Tour, he has made 131 starts, finishing second in the 2017 Panama Claro Championship. His low round was a 63 at the 2014 Stonebrae Classic.

But Friday was Baker’s best day. He hit 12 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 23 putts after a 31-putt round on Thursday when he shot 67 at Wakefield.

“I really wanted to get the 59 but I did everything I could, managed my emotions great,” he said. “I just did everything nice.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Rex Hospital Open leader misses a 59 by a putt."