Spain's Alejandro Del Rey posted the record score on day two of the Swiss Challenge
Alejandro Del Rey had himself a day in the second round of the Challenge Tour’s Swiss Challenge.
After posting an opening two-over 74, the Spaniard made an enormous move up the leaderboard, mixing eight birdies and three eagles in a 14-under-par 58 - the lowest score to par ever recorded on a major golf tour.
Yes, you read that correct.
The 23-year-old World No. 392 took the course at Golf Saint Apollinaire to task, getting off to a flying start courtesy of a birdie and back-to-back eagles in his first three holes beginning on the back-nine.
Further gains at his 5th and 6th holes took him out in 29 before five birdies in six from the turn put him within touching distance of one of golf's rarest feats.
Pars at the 7th and 8th (his 16th and 17th) meant Del Rey required a birdie at worst to post a sub-60 number but he went one better, adding a third eagle to his round at the par-5 9th to do what most professional golfers can only dream of.
Nobody has ever posted a lower score on a major golf tour in Europe, with Oliver Fisher's 59 at the 2018 Portugal Masters the previous best.
He joins Jim Furyk (PGA Tour, 2016), Stephan Jaeger (Korn Ferry Tour, 2016), Ryo Ishikawa (Japan Tour, 2010), Jason Bohn (Canadian Tour, 2001), and Kim Seong-Hyeon (Japan Tour, 2021) in shooting 58, although Del Rey's is the only one to be compiled on a par-72 layout.
And amazingly, such an effort wasn’t even good enough to take him to the top of the pile heading into the weekend.
At 12-under, Del Rey is in a tie for fourth at the halfway point, two behind leader Marcel Schneider.
What's next for the 23-year-old? A well-earned nap.
With just two events between now and the Rolex Challenge Tour Final, the Spaniard, who currently sits 60th in the order of merit, will be hoping to maintain this form having missed six of his last eight cuts.
He has one professional win to his name that came on the Alps Tour in 2020 at the Open de la Mirabelle d'Or.
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