All golf fans have seen the iconic photograph of Jack Nicklaus, putter outstretched towards the hole as he holed for birdie on the seventeenth at Augusta National in 1986. This was a run of eagle-birdie-birdie that saw him take the lead at the 71st hole of the tournament. Generally written off by pundits prior to the championship The Golden Bear was goaded into action by an article in Atlanta Journal-Constitution calling Nicklaus “done, washed up, through” and giving him no chance to win. A final par 4 saw Nicklaus close with a 65, 7 under for the final 10 holes, 30 for the back 9 and an ultimately winning score of -9 to win his 18th Major title and a record six green jackets. The round has gone down in history as one of the greatest of all time.
First the facts: Rory McIlroy makes the cut on the number at the Quail Hollow Championship to scrape in for the final two rounds. Shoots a 66 on Saturday then blitzes the field with a course record 62 in the final round to win by 4 shots just two days short of his 21st birthday. Leading by one playing #15 McIlroy hits a majestic five iron to 3 feet setting up an eagle then holes a forty footer on the last to finish in spectacular style and plays the final five holes in 5 under par.
Now watch one of the most beautiful swings in golf. If anyone ever EVER disputes with you about golf being a sport then point them over to this blog to see this shot. Effortless power, poise and balance launches the ball onto the green with a precision that is the equal of any sport.
When you are a short game guru and you’re filming a putting tips clip it helps if you can prove you know what you are talking about. Watch while Dave Pelzwalks it like he talks it and holes an incredible puttfrom 200 feet. That’s almost 70 yards!!!
As a young golfer I remember watching this shot on television and wondering how such a little old man could still play golf. Listening to the wonderful commentary by the legendary Henry Longhurst I learned that at aged 71 this was to be his last competitive tournament and he was to get a hole-in-one 50 years after he’d failed to qualify for 1923 Open Championship at Royal Troon whilst the reigning US Open Champion. This inspired a great love for the history of golf it’s champions and famous golf courses and of course I researched Gene Sarazen and I learned of his “shot heard around the world”, his Career Grand Slam, 7 major championships and place as a true legend of the game of golf.
No account of great golf shots should omit Gene Sarazen’s double eagle (albatross) on the 15th at Augusta National in the 1935 US Masters. Dubbed “the shot heard around the world” it has gone down in folklore. Unfortunately no footage of the shot was taken and other than Sarazen, his playing partner Walter Hagen, their caddies and probably 25 other hardy souls no one else saw it, so fortunately for history one of those souls was Bobby Jones. There is no doubt that the context of the shot makes it one of the most legendary shots in golf. Sarazen did say later that over the years he met about 20,000 people who claimed to be there at the critical moment. When standing on the tee at #15 Sarazen thought he would need to birdie 3 of the last 4 holes to catch Craig Wood who himself had birdied the 18th posting a clubhouse score of 282. Television coverage of The Masters has made #15 a familiar hole with a lake in front of the green sowing seeds of doubt in the mind of a golfer wanting to go for it in two. Sarazen knew that this hole was critical if he was to catch Wood so he just had to go for the green. Following a drive of 255 yards he still had 232 to go, over water from a lie that was sitting down in the grass and to a slick putting surface. After consulting with his caddie, who thought he needed a 3 wood, Sarazen decided on a 4 wood but toed it in for a little more distance, it’s a good job he did because his ball barely cleared the lake guarding the green, skimmed low onto the green, rolled out to the flag at the right back of the green and dropped in for a double eagle. Can you imagine the pandemonium, fist pumps and high fives that such a shot would create today? Sarazen was much more phlegmatic, calculating only what he needed to do to catch Craig Wood. He subsequently parred the last three holes, by all accounts with difficult putts, to force a 36 hole play off the following day. It was obviously pre-ordained that he would win claim the title as he triumphed by 5 shots.
Even though there is no actual recording of the historic shot I thought you might like to see some archive footage of Gene Sarazen’s swing.
It is said that fortune favours the brave and there are fewer braver on the golf course that Phil Mickelson. Locked in a duel with Lee Westwood he had started the final round of the 2010 The Masters tournament one shot adrift but was two ahead coming down the Par 5 13th. Left handed Mickelson had pulled his drive into the trees on the right hand side of the fairway the famous #13 hole at Augusta National is part of the infamous Amen Corner a classic risk & reward Par 5 that challenges golfers to go for the green in two across the treacherous Rae’s Creek from a hanging lie of the fairway to a wickedly sloping green. With his ball laying on pine straw and only a limited view of the putting surface over 200 yards away Mickelson would have been quite justified in playing out conservatively and relying on a pitch and putt birdie opportunity but what happened next was one of the most spectacular shots in modern golf. Phil selected a 6 iron and thread his shot through the trees and soared onto the green pulling up sharply 7 feet from the hole signalling to Westwood that he wanted that green jacket very badly indeed.
It’s always nice to make a save when you’ve missed a green even better when your ball rolls straight into the hole for a birdie! Retief Goosen chips in from 147 feet on #14 at the 2009 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Missing the 11th green at Augusta in The Masters results in a very very difficult up and down. A slick chip over a grassy bank with a lake beckoning behind must make for a knee-knocking experience. When Greg Norman saw his opponent Larry Mize faced with exactly that shot on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff in 1987 he must have been confident of victory. Imagine then his thoughts as he watched Mize’s 140 foot chip skip twice before the green and then track straight into the hole. Norman couldn’t believe it and nor, I’m sure, could Mize. But, what an amazing golf shot with which to win a Major.
Everyone knows that when leading a Major going into the last round Tiger Woods wins, don’t they? Well someone must have forgotten to tell YE Yang! He trailed Woods by two shots going into the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National GC, caught him by the turn, and was tied with five holes to play. It looked as though nerves were getting the better of him when he three-putted for bogey at the 17th but he produced the shot of his life down eighteen. From a lie in the semi on the left side of the fairway he needed to fly a tree and bunker to get at the flag, his 3-iron hybrid cleared a bunker and settled 12 feet away closing out a victory making him the first Asian born male player to win a Major.
Imagine leapfrogging the leaders of a Major championship with an eagle, albatross (double eagle) start!! A FIVE under par after 2 holes start for the final round catapulted Karen Stupples into the lead of the 2004 Women’s British Open at Sunningdale a lead that she held onto to win her first Major. The fireworks started early as Stupples knew they would need with a nice 15 feet eagle putt at the first hole settling her into the round but what happened next was incredible as her 5 iron approach to the second bounced short, rolled down the green, rattled the flagstick and into the cup. Stupples didn’t actually see the ball go in but the crowd’s reaction soon told her that she was the new tournament leader.
