Mike Cormack

A modest wave is just about the appropriate reaction to shooting 59 these days.

With so many players going low this year on Tour, 59 no longer feels like golf's magic number.

Take a bow, Stuart Appleby.

By shooting a final round 59 on Sunday to win the Greenbrier Classic, you became just the fifth player in PGA Tour history to break 60, and only the second to do it in the final round on your way to victory (David Duval, 1999 Bob Hope).

Rare company indeed and the 12-foot birdie putt you made on the final green showed some serious nerves.

But in a week in which 12 or more players blitzed the Greenbrier White Course for rounds of 63 or better, and just a day after D.A. Points needed to birdie one of the final two holes for a 59 of his own, Appleby's round -- and bear with us here -- seemed almost predictable.

Given his poor record over the past few years we're not suggesting anyone could have predicted a 59 was coming from the 39-year-old Australian, but as soon as players arrived at the Greenbrier earlier in the week, talk immediately turned to how low the scores would be -- and whether we were in store for another 59.

Rocco Mediate even went as far to tell the Golf Channel he thought players were going to "tear the course apart."

CBS was dutifully effusive in its praise of the "historic" Greenbrier during its TV coverage, and while the course did host the 1979 Ryder Cup, the reality is in the 30 years since then, the old girl, her wide fairways and soft greens have become nothing more than a 7,000-yard bombers' paradise for the modern pro.

During his 8-under 62 on Friday, eventual runner-up Jeff Overton used wedges on all but one approach shot on the par-70 White Course.

And when you also consider the 58 Ryo Ishikawa shot earlier this year in Japan -- the lowest ever round recorded on a major professional tour -- Steve Stricker shooting 60 at the John Deere mere hours after Goydos' 59 and Carl Petterssen's lip-out 60 at St. George's, and 59 is suddenly feeling like, well, just a number.

It's not unlike the situation this year in Major League Baseball with the rash of no-hitters; the more common they become, the less special they are.

Shooting a 59 is undoubtedly a tremendous achievement; but until someone does it on a course with some teeth, a 59, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, just ain't what it used to be.

Up for grabs

The top 50 players in the world rankings this week are in the field for the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone and for three men there's more than just the title at stake.

Should Lee Westwood or Phil Mickelson come out on top this week, they would overtake Tiger Woods atop the world rankings for the first time in either of their careers.

Woods is a seven-time winner of the event -- the most wins he has at any single tournament -- so despite his recent struggles he should feel comfortable this week.

A strong field, a great golf course and some added intrigue should make for an interesting week in Akron leading up the PGA Championship next week at Whistling Straits.