There is a view amongst a certain section of golf Twitter that says, ‘Fans like to watch the pros bomb it, it’s that simple’.
Fans of the excellent State of the Game podcast will long have heard Clayton, Shackelford and Morri question this assertion. They point out that if you are standing on a tee at a golf tournament watching someone drive it makes virtually no difference to your enjoyment if a player hits it 280 yards of 380 yards as you’re not going to see it land anyway.
I decided to carry out a very unscientific survey to find out what people thought was the best golf shot they had ever seen a professional hit, either in person or on TV.
The result was fascinating. I know there are biases in the ‘research’. Replies largely came from people who follow me, so may be predisposed to my way of thinking, and have a European bias.
Of the 200+ nominations and votes I received, the vast majority were for long approach shots - Harrington at Birkdale, Faldo at Augusta, Woods in Canada. They were moments of magic which captivated fans from across the world.
Then came some wonderful short game moments - Tiger in 2005 at Augusta, Seve at Lytham.
But out of all of the choices and nominations, only 3 involved a driver hit from a tee. People simply didn’t get excited about players hitting it a long way from the tee.
There is a huge irony in the PGA Tour giving the proposals to modify the ball for professionals the cold shoulder. By supporting players continually hitting the ball further and further from the tee they are undermining the very thing that fans want to see. They are taking away the shots that excite us the most.
It’s the heroic shots, the long approaches and do-or-die shots which the fans love. No-one remembers the long drives and no-one gets excited about a wedge in from 100 yards. But put a 2 iron in a player’s hand and ask them to create something special and the fans will be drooling.
Encouraging players to hit it further from the tee means we will simply see far fewer of these special shots. No-one nominated one of DeChambeau’s wedge shots from the rough at Winged Foot in 2020.
Anyway, I went and tallied up the responses and trawled YouTube for some clips. I’ve got them all to start at just these shots too so you don’t need to do any fast forward to get to the juicy bits!
Here are the results. As I said, it’s not scientific - but there’s not many of these that won’t thrill.
25. CRAIG PARRY - 2004 DORAL. 18TH HOLE, 176 YARDS. 6 IRON.
The defining shot in Parry’s career. A holeout eagle in the first playoff hole against Scott Verplank. This one got a plaque…
24. NICK FALDO - OAK HILL. 1995 RYDER CUP. 18TH HOLE. 93 YARDS. WEDGE
Faldo was 2 down on the 17th tee. Strange bogeyed 17 so it went all square on the 18th. Faldo had to lay up for his second and then did this. Strange bogeyed and Faldo holed the putt to win the hole, the match and the Ryder Cup. Ewen Murray said in his reply to my tweet, ‘Very few could produce that. One for the chosen few and changed the event for several years’.
23. TOM WATSON - TURNBERRY. 1977 OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 178 YARDS. 7 IRON
‘The Duel in the Sun’ gave us one of the truly great climaxes to a golf tournament ever. One ahead of Nicklaus on the tee, Watson produced this incredible shot to 2 feet. He still needed to hole it though after an outrageous birdie from Nicklaus. Stirring stuff!
22. SEVE BALLESTEROS - ROYAL BIRKDALE. 1976 OPEN. 18TH HOLE.
There are two shots from Seve that are unfortunately not captured on film. His 3 wood from the bunker in the 1983 Ryder Cup at PGA National (Nicklaus says it is the greatest shot he has ever seen) and his shot from the trees at Crans Montana (I see a gap Billy). If they were, I have no doubt they would feature high on this list.
His first entry here is still a pretty good one. He burst onto the global stage at Birkdale in 1976, this up and down at the last to finish second was a sign of what the world had to look forward to.
21. RORY MCILROY - THE K CLUB. 2016 IRISH OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 253 YARDS. 5 WOOD.
Winning you national Open is pretty special. Doing it with an eagle at the last is even more so. McIlroy delivered this sucker punch to Russel Knox in spectacular style.
20. COREY PAVIN - SHINNECOCK HILLS. 1995 US OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 228 YARDS. 4 WOOD.
It takes nerves of steel to hit a 4 wood into the last hole at Shinnecock Hills with the US Open on the line. Harder still when you have Greg Norman and Tom Lehman breathing down your neck. Pavin’s peerless shot from 228 yards finished just 5 foot away. OK, so he missed the putt, but he still went on to win the event and cap a memorable career.
19. JACK NICKLAUS - 1986 MASTERS. 16TH HOLE. 175 YARDS. 6 IRON
Of all of Nicklaus’ wins, this one may live in the memory the longest. Fresh off an eagle at the 15, he hit this stunning 6 iron at 16. As it was in the air, son Jackie exclaimed, ‘Be right’. Nicklaus bent down, picked up his tee and simply said ‘It is’. The leader Ballesteros heard the cheers on the 15th fairway behind and put his approach in the water. An incredible shot, and an incredible win.
18. TOM WATSON - PEBBLE BEACH. US OPEN 1982. 17TH HOLE. SAND WEDGE.
It was the penultimate hole of the US Open, Watson was tied with his great rival Nicklaus who was already in the clubhouse. When his tee shot went left into the heavy rough it looked like an up and down for par would be the best Watson could hope for. He had other ideas. Watson birdied 18 too to win by 2.
17. SEVE BALLESTEROS - ROYAL LYTHAM. THE OPEN 1988. 18TH HOLE. WEDGE.
This time Seve’s supreme touch on the 18th green at The Open led to a win. He was two clear of Nick Price, who was on the green in regulation. But Seve ended Price’s hopes with this sublime chip from a tough lie.
16. RORY MCILROY - THE RENAISSANCE. SCOTTISH OPEN 2023. 18TH HOLE. 202 YARDS WEDGE
Maybe there’s a hint of recency bias, but this incredible shot could well stand the test of time. Tied with Robert MacIntyre, who had just hit a career best shot into 18 himself for a birdie, McIlroy needed something special. Into a stiff wind he hit a 2 iron from 202 yards. When the wind is up on a links course, creativity and skill are needed. And McIlroy had both in spades.
15. NICK FALDO - MUIRFIELD. 1992 OPEN. 15TH HOLE. 5 IRON. 167 YARDS.
Walking off the 14th green in the final round, Faldo looked at a leaderboard and saw he was two shots behind the leader, John Cook. Telling himself he needed to play the best four holes of his life, the catalyst came with this shot. He describes the chippy, running 5 iron that went to three feet as ‘a little chicken wing, soft arm thing’. The birdie putt kick started a grandstand finish. It is possible though that the 3 iron he hit into the 18th green was an even finer shot.
14. ROBERT GAMEZ - BAY HILL. 1990. 18TH HOLE. 176 YARDS. 7 IRON.
21 year old rookie, Robert Gamez, engraved his name on the game’s history when he hit this all-time shot to win the 1990 Nestle Invitational. Greg Norman was playing a hole behind Gamez and was unable to make a birdie over the last two holes to get into a playoff. Not for the first time, Norman was pipped to the post by an outrageous hole out.
13. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN - 2012 MASTERS. 2ND HOLE. 253 YARDS. 4 IRON.
If you are going to hole out from 253 yards this may be the best way to do it. Oosthuizen’s shot was for albatross, at Augusta, in the last round of The Masters. Oh yes, it was to give him the lead too. Eventually he lost to Bubba Watson in the playoff, but this remains one of the most memorable shots hit ever at Augusta.
12. CONSTANTINO ROCCA - ST ANDREWS. 1995 OPEN. 18TH GREEN. PUTT.
Context is everything for understanding this putt. Constantino Rocca came to the 18th hole on the final round of The Open knowing he needed an eagle to win The Open, or a birdie to make the playoff. He hit a long drive, close to the green but watched in horror as his pitch failed to get up the green and came to rest in the valley of sin. The resulting putt led to what would become one of the most famous celebrations ever seen. Alas, though, there was no fairytale ending as John Daly dominated in the playoff.
11. JACK NICKLAUS - PEBBLE BEACH. 1972 US OPEN. 218 YARDS. 1IRON.
There’s something about the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Jack Nicklaus had the lead as he came to the hole in the 1972 US Open, but with a strong wind and water always a threat Nicklaus came up with something truly special. His iron was perfectly shaped into the wind, hit the pin and stopped just a few inches away.
10. PAUL LAWRIE - CARNOUSITE. 1999 OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 221 YARDS. 4 IRON.
Paul Lawrie was 10 shots off the lead as he teed off in the last round of the 1999 Open at a turbulent Carnoustie. His 67 was one of the best rounds ever seen on a windy links course and saw him into a playoff with Justin Leonard and Jean van de Velde.
One shot clear as he stood on the 18th tee, he found the fairway and the commentators were sure that laying up from 221 yards was the sensible move. Lawrie had other ideas. His 4 iron was simply an incredible shot, but even more so in these conditions and with The Open on the line.
9. CHRISTY O’CONNOR JNR - THE BELFRY. 1989 RYDER CUP. 18TH HOLE. 229 YARDS. 2 IRON.
Of all this great shots hit in a Ryder Cup, this is still the one that lives the longest in the memories of European golf fans. Europe were 14-12 down with just two matches left on the course. O’Connor was all square with Fred Couples but seriously disadvantaged from the tee. Couples had smashed his drive and just had a 9 iron in.
O’Connor had 229 yards. His 2 iron to four feet put huge pressure on Couples who missed the green. He couldn’t hole his chip and offered O’Connor his hand.
8. PHIL MICKELSON - 2010 MASTERS. 13TH HOLE. 209 YARDS 6 IRON.
Phil Mickelson has hit many great shots on his ways to three green jackets, but this one may be remembered more than any other. His caddie, Bones, attempted to get him to lay up that didn’t find favour. The shot was a thing of showmanship and beauty. Pure Phil.
It would be churlish to dwell on the missed birdie putt, but another Masters it was.
7. PADRAIG HARRINGTON - ROYAL BIRKDALE. 2008 OPEN. 17TH HOLE. 278 YARDS. 5 WOOD.
You could have understand if Padraig Harrington had decided to lay up with his second shot to the 17th on the Sunday of the 2008 Open. He had a two shot lead, the wind was howling and just getting in the clubhouse without dropping any more shots would have been the objective of most. But Harrington had an intense focus on his face and knew he was playing the golf of his life.
The shot was immense, the eagle virtually guaranteed his Open title defence.
6. BUBBA WATSON - 2012 MASTERS. 10TH HOLE (IN PLAYOFF). 164 YARDS. GAP WEDGE
It’s a shot that will be talked about for as long as The Masters is held. Bubba Watson was on the second play off hole against Louis Oosthuizen. His tee shot went way right into the trees and he had 164 yards left to the pin.
The problem was there was no direct line out of the pine straw and through the trees to the green. In the booth Faldo commented that he probably didn’t have a shot to get close to the green. Watson had other ideas. Watson had different ideas. “I hit 52-degree, my gap wedge, hooked it about 40 yards, it went about 15 feet off the ground until it got under the tree and then started rising, pretty easy.”
Two putts was enough for Bubba to put on his first green jacket, with a shot now engrained in Augusta folklore.
5. MATT FITZPATRICK - BROOKLINE. 2022 US OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 160 YARDS. 9 IRON.
Fitpatrick had a one shot lead on the 18th hole of the 2022 US Open over Will Zalatoris. But when Fitzpatrick found the bunker to the left of the fairway, with Zalatoris safely on the fairway, it looked like there could be a dramatic turnaround.
Fitzpatrick had 160 yards to go, and his lie and line meant that needed to hit a cut to approach from the left, avoiding the bunker in front of the green. He did just that, hitting it to 18 feet. Zalatoris couldn’t birdie. A US Open for Fitzpatrick.
4. NICK FALDO - 1996 MASTERS. 13TH HOLE. 228 YARDS. 2 IRON.
The 1996 Masters gave one of the defining images of any golf tournament, when Faldo and Norman embraced on the final green after one of the greatest comebacks/collapses in major history.
Faldo had a two shot lead when he was on the 13th fairway with 228 yards left to the pin, over Rae’s Creek. He spent over two minutes swithering between hitting a 5 wood and a 2 iron. He explains his decision making process here -
‘All week I carried an old persimmon 5-wood which I hit 215 yards every time. On all the par 5s during the practice rounds, Fanny dropped a ball at 215 yards and I hit my 5-wood. Amazingly, I didn’t use it at all during the week until the 13th on Sunday when I had 215 yards to the middle. So I grabbed my 5-wood but it would not sit flat on that sloping fairway. I wasn’t comfortable with it so we discussed the yardages to the front, middle and back. I then decided to hit a 2-iron and I nailed it. I knew that I had ripped it straightaway, I hit it sweet. It was very solid. It was one of the shots of my lifetime, let alone that day’.
It was another nail in Norman’s coffin.
3. SANDY LYLE - 1988 MASTERS. 18TH HOLE. 145 YARDS. 7 IRON.
Seve Ballesteros once said that if he and his peers were playing their best golf, Sandy Lyle would beat them all. On the 18th hole of the 1988 Masters he needed a par to tie Mark Calcavecchia who was in the clubhouse.
His one iron from the tee found the bunker on the left of the fairway, some 145 yards to the green. The commentators described it as the worst position it could be in, close to the lip of the bunker. Getting the ball on the green was far from a certainty.
All across Scotland we were glued to our TV sets, late at night, as Sandy hit a towering 7 iron over the pin and back down the slope to 18 foot. The shot, the successful birdie putt, and infamous jig that followed, are seared into the minds of every Scottish golf fan.
2. TIGER WOODS - 2000. GLEN ABBEY GC - CANADIAN OPEN. 18TH HOLE. 218 YARDS. 6 IRON.
It was 23 years ago but this shot still garnered a huge number of nominations. In 2000 Tiger Woods was at the peak of his powers, and this shot only served to further his legend.
Grant Waite, his playing partner, was one behind Woods but and hit to 35 feet to give him an eagle putt. Woods had 218 yards to the pin from the bunker, over the water. Rather than go to the safe section of the green to the left of the pin the ball shot off directly at the flag.
Tiger may have looked nervously as the ball was in the air but it safely cleared the water, and bounced on the green.
It’s fascinating how people’s memories change over the years. Several tweeters mentioned how it stopped six feet from the pin and Tiger made the putt to win. It actually bounced through the back. But he got up and down for the birdie and the win.
Woods later admitted that he had pushed the shot, but let’s not get that in the way of a good story!
1. TIGER WOODS - 2005 MASTERS. 16TH HOLE. WEDGE
No golf shot has been shown as often as this one. No sponsor has been at happy with their branding exposure!
Woods had a 1 shot lead on the 16th hole but Chris DiMarco was only 15 feet away from the tee. The commentators thought Woods would be doing well to get inside that.
What followed was pure theatre. The most iconic shot from the most iconic golfer.