Every summer, two special anniversaries are celebrated in the world of golf. Both occur during the month of June, and more importantly, both celebrate single-day scoring records that had previously seemed out of reach.

On June 17, 1973, Californian Johnny Miller blitzed venerable Oakmont Country Club during the final round of the U.S. Open, in 8-under-par 63 - making him the first man to shoot that score in a major. Less than four years later, on June 10, 1977, another California native, Al Geiberger, etched his name in history. Competing on the South course at Colonial Country Club in the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, Geiberger signed for an unthinkable 13-under-par 59.

As we progress to the final major of the summer of 2001 -- the 83rd PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club -- neither record has fallen yet.

Lately, a wide variety of factors have contributed to a rash of tournament scoring records. But in most cases the milestones posted this season by Tiger Woods, Joe Durant and Mark Calcavecchia have been amassed over a period of four or five days. Most wonder how long before someone, specifically Woods, puts up a score that lowers one of those two marks.

"If you look at Tiger, the one thing he hasn't done, is shoot low," says Miller. "How come he hasn't shot 59 on a regular basis? He has everything you need to do it. But he seems to be like Jack in that he likes to be in the hunt, make it interesting and win in dramatic fashion."

During May's Verizon Byron Nelson Classic, after starting the final round six shots back, Tiger stood on the 13th tee at 7-under for the day on the par-70 course. But he only managed to post even-par on the remaining holes and settled for 63.

Back in '97, Woods did shoot a 59 while tuning up for Augusta on his home course in Orlando, Fla. Interestingly, when he forecasts the possibilities for any player to go either sub-59 or sub-63, he feels the majors present more record opportunities.

"Probably the 62, because you don't have to go quite as low. If you play a par that's 70, I think it's a little bit easier, because all you have to do is shoot 8-under," he says. "I've shot 59 before, and it felt easy, but in hindsight, it wasn't, because I made everything I looked at."

If Miller had made everything in site on the softened surfaces of Oakmont, he might have lowered the historic mark. On No. 8, he three-putted for bogey, and then on the back-nine, Miller had two lip-outs, including a near 360 spin-out on the last green.

Prior to that day, only three men had ever shot 64 in the U.S. Open, and the most recent one in any major was conjured by Miller Barber during the '69 PGA. Barber was paired with Miller in Pennsylvania and was the first to congratulate him.

The second player was Lanny Wadkins, who had just completed his own stirring effort of 65 in the group ahead. In addition, Wadkins was one of Tom Weiskopf's playing partners in round one at Baltusrol Golf Club in the '80 Open and witnessed firsthand the second-ever 63.

He feels that scoring barrier will fall prior to the obstacle of surpassing 59 in a regular tournament. Wadkins singles out three reasons: 1) Tour courses are being set up tougher, 2) players are so aware of breaking 60, they put too much pressure on themselves, and 3) majors are often played on a par-70 or par-71 layout.

In the past 28 years, a total of 17 players have equaled Miller's benchmark. It's occurred twice in both the Masters and U.S. Open, six times in the British Open and seven times in PGA Championship competition -- including last year's third round effort by Jose Maria Olazabal at Valhalla. The opportunity still beckons for someone to shoot 62 in a grand slam event.

"In the majors, the pressure or the rough hold you back," says Miller. "Plus the enormity of the tournaments."

One of those other 63s was a golden effort by Jack Nicklaus. The Bear stole the spotlight away from Weiskopf at Baltusrol, then kept it for the rest of the week on his way to a fourth U.S. Open title. Amazingly, the game's greatest player never bested 62 in any competitive round -- though he did tally a 59 while playing an exhibition match in the early 60s with Sam Snead at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

In '71, Nicklaus was down in Sydney, Australia, competing at the Dunlop International. Needing to birdie the last holes to shoot 59, he unleashed a mighty blow and drove the fringe on the par-4 17th. Unfortunately he took three to get down and then bogeyed the closing hole for a disappointing 62.

"The closest I've come to shooting 59 in a tournament," he says.

Three years later, Gary Player capped off an amazing season with a spectacular 59 while winning the Brazilian Open. The South African later became part of the sub-plot following Geiberger's 59, as he chased after him for the title in Memphis.

Prior to that week, seven players had shot 60 on Tour. The first was conjured by Al Brosch in '51 at San Antonio's Brackenridge Park (where it happened three times) and the seventh by Sam Snead at the Dallas Open in '57 -- the next one didn't occur until 1990.

Having been born in the small Northern California town of Red Bluff, a community known for extreme summertime temperatures, Geiberger had no idea how much red he'd be producing on the Colonial scoreboards. On Wednesday, Gerald Ford put his presidential seal on the week by making an ace during the pro-am. There was a sense of magic in the humid air.

The 39-year old teed off on the 10th hole in the 2nd round with Dave Stockton and Jerry McGee. Due to a serious draught in Tennessee, winter rules were required throughout the week. Using the same ball for the entire day, Geiberger went out in six-under-par 30, then holed out a wedge for an eagle on the par-5 first hole, followed by back-to-back birdies.

At this point, the galleries were all shook up and soon began cheering on the mild-mannered professional like the king of rock & roll himself.

"The crowd was so pumped up," he said, "and so was I. When you're pumped up you can hit the ball harder."

It all came down to an 8-foot birdie effort on the ninth green. Just as he'd done throughout that blazing afternoon, Geiberger read the grain perfectly and poured it in the bottom of the cup. Nobody could believe his accomplishment, including the man who'd already shocked the golfing world.

"If there was a set of greens I thought you couldn't do that on, it would have been these," admitted Miller. "It's great to see it's possible."

Fourteen more years passed before the feat was duplicated again as Chip Beck took apart the par-72 Sunrise Golf Club in Las Vegas. That same day, 16-year-old Tiger Woods was at home conducting an interview with Golf Magazine.

"You should be doing a story on (Beck)," Woods said, "13 birdies -- that's awesome."

British Open champion David Duval made the "59 Club" a threesome when he put on a ball-striking clinic during the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope. After Duval totaled up the distance of his 11 birdie putts and lone eagle on the 90th green, he figured the sum to be only 54 feet. If you add on his tap-ins for par, our unofficial calculation for the day comes to 58 feet, the next number looming on the scoring horizon.

"There's going to be a 58 shot in the next five years," says John Daly. The golf courses are in such great shape. They're getting better and better every year."

So to, are the players. Notah Begay and Doug Dunakey fired 59s on the Buy.com Tour. David Gossett put one on the board during the most recent Tour School. Shigeki Maruyama stole the headlines with a 58 while qualifying for the 20000 U.S. Open. This past May, Paul Stankowski and Fred Couples both made serious runs at sub-60 rounds. And just last weekend, Billy Mayfair set a PGA Tour nine-hole record when he shot a 9-under 27 during the final round of the Buick Open. He finished with an 11-under 61.

But the question persists: Which single-day scoring barrier will be broken first? Mark Brooks, Vijay Singh and Tom Kite posted 64s at Southern Hills in Tulsa, with each man threatening to go lower. Duval was 7 under on Saturday at Lytham, with five holes to play on the par-71 links, but with the toughest stretch at the end, was happy to shoot 65.

Atlanta Athletic Club's Highlands Course will present the next major championship opportunity. In the two previous majors held there, the lowest score was 66 -- including a couple of those rounds by eventual champion Larry Nelson during the '81 PGA.

August brings the distinct possibility of thunderstorms that can lead to softer and slower greens and slightly easier conditions. The PGA Championship has produced four rounds of 63 (Singh, Michael Bradley, Brad Faxon and Olazabal) in the past eight years.

Miller feels that since those types of rounds are the exception rather than the norm, any player who gets hot should enjoy the ride.

"When you get it going, and you're feeling it, you better get all you can that day," he says. "Because the next day the hole looks two inches wide, sitting on a volcano."

Since turning professional, we've seen Woods erupt on countless courses around the world. But he readily admits that he's only been in "the zone" twice since taking up the game. The first time occurred when he was 18 under over 36 holes of the Pac-10 Championships, and the second came at Isleworth in '97.

"If you're lucky, it's a feeling you'll get a handful of times in your entire life," he says.

Should Woods or any other player capture that mindset, more long-standing tournament records will continue to fall and a couple new single-day scoring benchmarks could be achieved.

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