Last week showed how much fun it is to chase 59

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The 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer is one of the few tournaments on the PGA TOUR schedule where players consistently shoot the kinds of scores you only expect to see on a video game.

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The mentality appears to be: You know, I don't feel like working hard on long birdie putts this week, so I'm just going to stiff it for a kick-in.

However, the Bob Hope Classic is not Golden Tee, which makes it fascinating.

Sunday, of course, was an aberration. For the first time all week, the wind kicked up and the course was no longer defenseless.

But let's forget Sunday. For the sake of this column, let's look at Wednesday through Saturday. The scores were stupid-low as some of the hip, younger guys on the PGA TOUR --- or peace-sign-belt-buckle-wearing Rocco Mediate --- might say.

In each of the first four rounds, an elusive sub-60 round -- golf's holy grail of scores -- was a distinct possibility for a number of players. It was so ridiculous in a mesmerizing way that guys who shot 65 were losing ground.

For us hackers, that's impossible to fathom. Who shoots 7 under and backs up?

Instead, it was a testament to how talented the players on TOUR truly are when presented with the most perfect of conditions. They dissected the courses as if they were frogs in high school biology class.

In all, there were eight scores posted that were 10-under 62 or better, including two by Steve Stricker -- a 61 in the third round and a 62 in the fourth round, respectively.

I'll be the first to admit that it's "fun" in the most masochistic sense of the word to watch the world's best golfers struggle like the rest of us in major championships and a handful of TOUR events where making par feels like birdie and making birdie feels like eagle.

But if we take anything away from seeing what we witnessed at the Bob Hope Classic, it should be an extraordinary appreciation for how difficult those major-championship set-ups must actually be.

Of course they provide the most stern test of all, but if players can post the types of numbers they did in ideal conditions in the desert, how flawless do they have to be to keep it around par in those majors, where the courses are tricked up with thick, gnarly, ankle-snapping rough, and greens that repel golf balls like raindrops on a windshield?

The way Pat Perez closed out his first PGA TOUR win on Sunday was a microcosm of the week, where a long course, and courses, was reduced to a pitch-'n-putt and we were treated to what turned out to be a little more than a tap-in eagle to drive that point home.

It's hard to think that kind of play could ever be boring to watch. What's dull about watching birdies and eagles drop at a feverish pace? Not much, but I still don't want to see it every week.

If it were like that week in and week out, you'd have to believe that a career on the PGA TOUR for even the most seasoned of pros would be short-lived. Who wants to go to bed each night knowing that if he doesn't shoot at least 7 under or better the next day he has no chance?

My guess is no one. It would be demoralizing.

All we can do is scratch our head in amazement, tip our hat and wonder if all the low scores we saw posted really happened.

Skepticism is understandable. After all, it took place in the desert.

Even so, we're here to assure you it was no mirage.

T.J. Auclair is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.