David Duval made history yesterday by becoming the first player to shoot 59 in the final round of a USPGA Tour event. He did it in the 90-hole Bob Hope Classic at PGA West to return a stunning total of 26-under-par for the clubhouse lead.

The round was all the more remarkable for the fact that it ended with an eagle three at the 18th where Duval hit a 220-yard long-iron second shot over water to within seven feet of the flag.

And when the putt went down, the normally dead-pan Floridian pumped the air with emotion.

It is the third occasion that a 59 has been carded on the American tour. The first was at the Colonial CC in Memphis in 1977 when Al Geiberger did the magical figure in the second round of the Memphis Classic.

Then came Chip Beck's 59 at the Sunrise GC in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational. Like PGA West, both of these courses had a par of 72 but it should be noted that Geiberger had the advantage of preferred lies though, unlike Beck, he went on to win the tournament.

Since Las Vegas is also a 90-hole event, Beck's round came on a Friday. Which means that Duval becomes the only player to have broken 60 on the weekend of a tournament.

Yesterday's effort contained 11 birdies, an eagle and six pars. And he had the distinction of starting both the outward (31) and inward (28) journeys with a run of three birdies. The 27-year-old, who played at Portmarnock in the 1991 Walker Cup, knew a 59 was possible when he wedged dead for a birdie at the par-four 16th to be 11-under-par for the round.

Then came a solid, two-putt par at the short 17th before he headed for glory down the treacherous final hole. His 26-under-par total left him two strokes clear of closest challenger Steve Pate who had three holes to play at that stage.

Meanwhile, David Frost turned in a vintage performance to win the South African Open in conditions of blistering heat at Stellenbosch yesterday.

Frost shot a three-under-par final round of 68 to end with a 72-hole total of 279, five-under-par.

Jeev Milkha Singh, who became the first Indian golfer to qualify for the European Tour by winning his card in 1997, and American Scott Dunlap, who carded the tournament's best round of 65 on Friday, shared second place on four-under 280.

Only 10 players ended the tournament on par or better after a heat-wave, narrow fairways and brittle greens put paid to good scores. Ireland's Paul McGinley, who started the tournament so promisingly after two successive 69s, fell away over the weekend. He shot a two over par 73 on Saturday followed by a five over par 76 yesterday.

Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam succumbed to the heat and wind, Faldo ending on six-over 290 and Woosnam one stroke further back at 291.

Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, lying second overnight on five-under, had a disastrous day, carding a 10-over 81 to finish the tournament five-over.

Struver blamed his nightmare experience on the 18th on bad luck. "I drove into a divot," he said. "The ball could have gone anywhere, but it went into the divot. It was just hard luck."

On driving out with a nine-iron, the ball veered left and into the water hazard. The subsequent drop was no kinder to the German, and he took another three strokes to hole out. By then Frost, who had already completed his round, had begun celebrating.

Frost had picked up two birdies on the way out and another two on the way in, but bogeyed the 10th after landing in the bunker and thereafter missing a putt.