Top Ten Tiger Shots in Majors: ESPN's List

So ESPN just ran a top ten list of Tiger's shots in major championships, and it was horrible! Let's review...


10. 2008 US Open, 3rd round, 17th hole, birdie chip-in. Even Tiger admitted that this shot was dumb luck... it was going a good 10 feet by before it hit the flagstick and dropped straight in. Terrible choice. The putt on 18 was 10 times more impressive.

9. 2000 US Open, 2nd (?) round, 6th hole, 2nd shot. OK, so he greened it from 210, uphill, over a canyon, with a 7-iron. But c'mon, he could've dumped 7 balls into the canyon and still won. The shot wasn't all that important. Not a terrible choice, but pretty meek.

8. 1997 Masters, 1st (?) round, 12th hole, birdie chip-in. I understand that we need to show something from that incredible win. But this shot? Eh.

7. 2002 PGA Championship, 2nd round, 18th hole, 2nd shot. I have a book in which many players describe their greatest shot; Tiger called this blast from a sidehill lie in a fairway bunker his best. Good pick.

6. 2000 US Open, 2nd (?) round, 12th hole, birdie putt. It is pretty cool that he came back from a rain delay and immediately sank a 50-footer. There needs to be a shot from the 2000 US Open on this list; I wouldn't have picked this one, but it's not bad.

5. 2000 PGA Championship, 4th round, 18th hole, birdie putt. Forced a playoff with Bob May with this squirrelly 6-footed. Obvious choice; probably should have been even higher.

4. 2008 US Open, 3rd round, 13th hole, eagle putt. Great shot; it certainly beats the "better than most" putt. Of course, if he loses tomorrow, this shot is meaningless.

3. 2006 Open Championship, 2nd round, 14th hole, 2nd shot. This was a great 4-iron that signaled his return after his horrid US Open appearance. Nevertheless, a bit too high on the list.

2. 2000 PGA Championship, Playoff, 16th hole, birdie putt. The famous finger-point putt deserves a high ranking. The stuff of legend.

1. 2005 Masters, 4th round, 16th hole, birdie chip-in. I knew ESPN would succomb to what iacas termed the "type C" type of golf viewer, one who watches casually only when Tiger or a hometown guy is involved. This is Tiger's most famous shot, the one with which the most fans identify, but his best... nah.


After all that critiquing, I'm going to make my own top ten, and invite you to do the same.

10. 2000 US Open, 4th round, 16th hole, par putt. Just another made 15-footer, but we needed something from this runaway; this was the stroke with which Tiger saved the bogey-free final round he wanted so badly. It was cool to see such emotion in the fist-pump after this putt even though he had a gazillion-shot lead.

9. 2002 PGA Championship, 2nd round, 18th hole, 2nd shot. According to Tiger (circa 2005), his greatest shot.

8. 2000 PGA Championship, Playoff, 18th hole, 4th shot. What most people forget about the playoff is that Tiger didn't seal the tournament with the finger-point putt. He needed this great bunker shot to a foot on the playoff's final hole for a one-stroke margin of victory over May.

7. 2006 Open Championship, 2nd round, 14th hole, 2nd shot. Obligatorily on the list, but it shouldn't be too high.

6. 2008 US Open, 3rd round, 13th hole, eagle putt. This shot will either move up or down depending on what happens tomorrow.

5. 2005 Masters, 4th round, 16th hole, birdie chip-in. Great shot, a bit lucky, cool that it hung on the lip for a second or two, but certainly not #1. After all, he basically gave the shot away with bogeys on the next two holes.

4. 2000 PGA Championship, Playoff, 16th hole, birdie putt. Tops the "best reactions to holed shots" list.

3. 1999 PGA Championship, 4th round, 17th hole, par putt. I can't believe ESPN completely missed this slippery 10-footer that kept him one stroke ahead of Sergio. Possibly the most important putt of his career: it got him back to winning majors.

2. 2000 PGA Championship, 4th round, 18th hole, birdie putt. Super clutch.

1. 2005 Masters, Playoff, 18th hole, birdie putt. Forget gimmicky chip-ins followed by careless bogeys. This is what champions do: a drive down the heart of the fairway, a sharp 8-iron 15 feet above the hole, and a buried putt for birdie and the title. Nothing eye-catching about the putt itself - no hanging on the lip, curling around, etc. Just dead center, right into the back of the hole. The mark of a champion.


I've given my thoughts... what do you think about them? What about ESPN's list? Again, I invite you to create a top ten list of your own.

APB

Don't forget that that greened 7 iron from 210 way uphill was from thick U.S. Open rough.

Also, the list is his single best shots, not the shot only gets on the list if it's sandwiched between other great shots. The chip on the 16th in the '05 Masters should be number one.

With your logic, had Tiger once double bogeyed every single one of the first 35 holes in a major, bound for missing the cut, then aced a par 4, it wouldn't be on your list.

I hate to say it, but I would call the chip on the 16th more lucky than great. Sure, it was fun to see, but it wasn't as original as people say it was. After all, Davis Love III holed virtually the same shot in the 1999 Masters, catapulting him to a second-place finish. IIRC, Tiger also said that he hit the ball about 5 feet further than he intended. A period article from Golf Digest summarizes my feelings about the chip-in: it was more of a trick shot than a golf shot.

When I made my list, I tried to combine the quality of shots with their importance. Tiger has probably hit 100 approach shots in majors within two feet of the cup that would seemingly be better shots than the six-footer on the final green of the 2000 PGA; that putt, however, kept him in the championship, whereas the stiff approaches merely lead to birdies. I kept some shots that didn't matter in the end result but were great anyway (e.g., the fairway bunker shot in the 2002 PGA). Mostly, however, I used shots that were relevant in the championship itself. If the list were comprised solely of Tiger's best shots without placing them in context, we would get a reel of stiffed irons and pounded drives in majors where he finished T23. Holing out from 100 yards doesn't really matter if you're not in contention. Based on quality alone, we probably wouldn't remember most of Tiger's top ten shots in majors: we tend to forget great shots when Tiger doesn't win.

i think if he wins today, all 3 shots from yesterday should be top 5

You make up a good list of your own. I knew that chip in would be #1 but for sure deserves nowhere near that.

It was a bit of luck, many amateur players like us have done that before on either a chip or a putt.

Frankly, gentlemen...

As much as I love Tiger and watching him play, I am getting sick of the media's handling of Tiger. Let's call it Tigermania. Every front page news story about the US Open had Tiger in it. Not Rocco who happened to be leading at one point. It was either a mix of "Tiger stutters" or "Tiger fights back".

Come on! I want to hear about the other golfers too. I know Tiger's name sells, but really, we need to give airtime to other players too. The same goes for the coverage of the Open as well, because the coverage went like this: *5 minutes of Tiger deliberating* *5 seconds of Westwood putting* *5 minutes of Tiger deliberating and putting*.

It sucked. However, it was one of the best Opens i've seen yet.

Agreed. Listened to a little of Rocco's post round presser, and it seemed that all he did was answer questions about Tiger. The guy shot his way into a playoff in the U.S. Open, and he gets to answer questions about another golfer. Happens all the time.

I was getting a little tired of ESPN's coverage on Friday as well. It was as you described above, except it seemed to be 5 minutes of Woods/Mickelson/Scott, and 5 seconds of someone else. I like Tiger, and he is amazing to watch. But, the media goes WAY overboard.

Thanks for the advice. I'll cherish it always.

That chip in and the break Tiger read on it is, imo, the greatest chip in golf history. (Note, greatest CHIP). That shot is truly unbelivable.

I also think his putt on Saturday should be even higher. 65 feet from the fringe, and a shot if he doesn't make it's likely he doesn't win the Open.