If a Masters champion shoots 59 in the middle of the night, does it make a sound? 

Certainly! Patrick Reed did exactly that while American golf fans were sleeping, taking a three-shot lead Saturday at the Hong Kong Open, an International Series event. And while it will go a long way to helping him win on the offshoot, feeder tour for LIV Golf, does that round actually count? Like, officially?

Unfortunately for Reed, the answer is a bit complicated, as the third round was contested under a preferred lies provision given recent weather in the area. 

When it comes to shooting a score for a specific tournament, every round obviously counts, but in terms of setting a scoring record on a given day, the record books of different tours use different stipulations. For decades, the PGA Tour has allowed preferred lies rounds to count as official rounds in the record books. But on the DP World Tour, mostly based in Europe, rounds contested under lift, clean and place do not count in the official record books. 

Okay, fair enough. But how about the International Series on the Asian Tour? The series itself is only a few years old, launched in 2022 as part of a massive investment from LIV Golf. The record round on the Asian Tour was a 59 shot by John Catlin just six months ago. Catlin, who filled in for Charles Howell III on Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers team this summer, ironically put that show on in front of Reed, his playing partner that day. 

Importantly, though, Catlin’s 59 was shot under normal conditions. And the Asian Tour does not allow for preferred lies rounds to stand in its record books, nullifying the historical nature of Reed’s round. That said, you can only shoot the best round under the conditions and situation in front of you. Reed’s 59 is still a 59 — though it came on a 6,710-yard par-70 — and a 59 was more than nine shots better than the field average in that third round. That makes it pretty darn great.