Greatest Shots ever

[Clambake]

Courtesy the Pebble Beach website describing their greatest moments in US Open history:

1972
Jack Nicklaus goes into Sunday's windy final with a one-shot lead over Lee Trevino, a two-shot edge on Bruce Crampton and Kermit Zarley, and a three-shot advantage over Arnold Palmer. After nine holes, Nicklaus has increased his lead to four and Trevino drops out of the chase, but by hole 12, Palmer closes to within one.

Then on the par-three 17, Nicklaus makes one of the most famous shots in golf history. Ahead by three, he readies himself to hit a one-iron. But the wind forces his clubface further closed than he intended, and he has to make a split-second adjustment on impact. The result: a shot that defies the wind, hits the flagstick, and rolls to a stop five inches from the cup. His birdie seals a three-stroke victory over a late-charging Crampton.

[dbuck]

Nicklaus at 17 Pebble 1972
Nicklaus put at 16 in 75 Masters
Nicklaus tee shot at 16 in 86 Masters
Tigers chip at 16 05 Masters
Mickelson from the straw at 13 this year
Watson's chip in at Pebble in 82
Pretty much every shot from Tiger at Pebble in 2000

Many more, but these stand out to me

Oh, and Freddie on the 12th at the 92 Masters

[PaddyHarrington]

What about this one from Harrington in the final round of the 2008 British Open? I went crazy with excitement when the ball came to rest,it was a great moment.

[Par Fore]

YE Yangs shot on 18 in the PGA.....as far as a pressure shot, to support an all-day-long pressure packed pairing, that was incredible.....

Live, I watched a hole in one on a Par 4, I think it was in San Antonio....that was just too cool....

[wannabe]

Maybe not as much the shot itself as far as technical difficulty (not a lot of break), but given the moment and the circumstances, it deserves to be put on the list.

Tiger's putt on 72nd hole, 2008? US Open, needs it to go into 18 hole playoff with Rocco Mediate, kikuyu grass, late in the day, ball bouncing all over the place, from about 18ft, on a broken leg. Drains it. Unreal.

[authentic_golfer]

Tiger has played so many utterly ridiculous shots, there should be a separate category for him.

Agree with all the Nicklaus shots mentioned, especially 71st hole 1-iron of the '72 US Open.

Speaking of Pebble, how 'bout Tom Kite's pitch-in on #7 en route to his lone major (1992)... Watson's chip in on 17, 1982... Tiger's 7-iron, out of the shag, uphill, onto the 6th green in the 2000 Open (2nd round?)... Tiger's hole-out on #15 (or was it 13?) in his 6-shot comeback at the AT&T....; Oh yeah, how about Nicklaus knocking it on 18 in two in his final US Open round, that same year?

Or Jack's birdie putt on 18 at St. Andrews in his final appearance, period, in 2005?

I watch waaaayyyy to many golf highlights.

Sean

[Shorty]

Greatest unintentional shot has to go to Vijay for his hole in one at the Masters. For intentional shots, there are just too many to choose from.

That was not a hole in one. It was a practise round where they skip balls over the water on 16 from the edge of the pond.

[billysandy]

YE Yangs shot on 18 in the PGA.....as far as a pressure shot, to support an all-day-long pressure packed pairing, that was incredible.....

1 guy got a hole in one on a per 4 at my local course. Just a 255 yard par 4 uphill and for it to be greenable, it has to carry the whole length. Pretty impressive.

[Zeph]

Tiger's fairway bunker shot and his chip in at The Masters.

[doctork]

Tiger's fairway bunker shot and his chip in at The Masters.

Guess you're referring to the ballyhooed shot at Hazeltine, but how about the 6-iron from 215+, over water on the 72nd hole of the 2000 Canadian Open?

Epic! Cheers, DoctorK

[Zeph]

I'm referring to the shot posted above here, 215+ over water. And the chip below.



To me, a great shot is one with difficult circumstances, not just a good approach shot if you are one shot behind in a major or something like that. That shot from the fairway bunker, over water and god knows what, had lots of potential trouble. The chip in is just magic.

Funniest thing on the video above is at 3:20, the two guys on the left in yellow and pink shirts.

[rfan2]

Tiger's "Better Than Most!" Triple breaker @ the infamous 17th.

[misty_mountainhop]

For me it has to be Seve's 3-wood bunker shot against Zoeller at the Ryder Cup; I think Jack Nicklaus is on record as saying it's the greatest he's seen. If you want more info see here . I was privileged to see it on T.V. at the time; I couldn't believe it then and I still can't believe it now. I'm with the writer of the above article who said:

Source: John Hopkins, Times Golf Correspondent
....And I will go to my grave believing he hit the greatest single golf shot I have ever seen.

That was from a bunker on the 18th hole of his singles against Fuzzy Zoeller in the 1983 Ryder Cup at PGA National golf club in Florida. Ballesteros, who had been three up with five to play, was level with the American. Things were not looking good for the Spaniard. A whistling Zoeller was well down the fairway in two strokes, while Ballesteros had smothered his tee shot into thick rough, about 60 yards in front of the tee, and then, heaving at his ball with those powerful shoulders, moved it 40 yards into a bunker.

From there he selected his three-wood and aiming left to avoid the lip of the bunker, hit the ball so cleanly it flew to the edge of the green perhaps 230 yards away from where he got down in two to halve with a startled Zoeller.

There are too many to compare really but I saw this one and it was a real moment of complete amazement. No-one should have been able to pull it off...and yet he did.

[doctork]

For me it has to be Seve's 3-wood bunker shot against Zoeller at the Ryder Cup; I think Jack Nicklaus is on record as saying it's the greatest he's seen. If you want more info see

That shot was nothing short of astounding.

Seve had his flaws, but outside of Tiger was undoubtedly the most exciting player to watch of my lifetime (yes, including Phil and Greg Norman). Flare personified. Cheers, DoctorK

[mjtoal]

Seve's 3 wood 240 yards from a bunker at the 1983 Ryder Cup, as above.

I challenge Tiger Woods or Phil Mick to go into the same place with a persimmon 3 wood and try that one.

[misty_mountainhop]

I challenge Tiger Woods or Phil Mick to go into the same place with a persimmon 3 wood and try that one.

Would be interesting. I reckon Phil has the imagination.

Why is it some people pull off these sort of shots seemingly quite often? I'm a big Seve fan (he's one of the reasons I got into the game) and he seems to have pulled off loads of mad shots . I remember #2 in the above article. Was watching the Matchplay with my Dad. Arnie dormie 1, on the last green looking safe for the win. Ballesteros had hit a rank second which caught a tree branch, hence his position short of the green. As soon as he hit his 3rd, you knew it was good; never seemed as if it would miss. When it went in, I looked at the Old Man and we both burst out laughing. No wonder Arnie couldn't help but be generous in defeat. #5 is pretty absurd as well. His famous car park shot isn't even here....

[Par Fore]

1 guy got a hole in one on a per 4 at my local course. Just a 255 yard par 4 uphill and for it to be greenable, it has to carry the whole length. Pretty impressive.

Sweeeet......that would be one for the ages.....

The one I saw was at a PGA event in San Antonio.....to be clear, when I say live, I mean live broadcast, not a replay....not a tournament I would usually watch, just bored on a weekend.....only watched for about 20 minutes, they were showing this downhill par 4, about 350 or so with wind at the back....the long hitters were going for it.....guy hit it perfect, fade, rolled up just beside the bunker, took the break, and into the cup.....it was too cool....

[authentic_golfer]

Seve's 3 wood 240 yards from a bunker at the 1983 Ryder Cup, as above.

Both could do it. Phil grew up playing persimmon, at least until his teenage years. I reckon Tiger played with wooden woods early on too.

Even if they hadn't, both have the strength, length and imagination to do it. Which takes nothing away from Seve's shot. Sean