The best golf shots of all time

Image by Bill Liao

The list of the greatest golf shots of all time is one long list indeed. It is too long, of course, to fit into one article, but there are some shots that almost every golfer in the world would surely include in their top five. Choosing the ‘best of all time’ of anything is a rather subjective pursuit, but everybody can recognise a great golf shot when they see one.

In 2005 at Augusta, Tiger Woods produced one of the most magnificent and significant shots golf has ever seen. It was on the edge of the green on the 16^th and, with the most delicate of chips, he lobbed his ball up onto the green and let gravity do the rest of the work. The ball seemed to have stopped dead on the edge of the cup for about a second, only to drop into the hole to the amazement of Woods, his caddy and everybody watching. It was almost as if he was filming the new Nike advert right there on the course (indeed, the shot did go on to feature in a Nike TV advert a while later).

In 1950, Ben Hogan defied belief to recover from a head-on car crash with a coach to hit one of the best shots ever seen on the US Open. On the 18^th at Merion, he hit a 2-iron that would go down in history as one of the sport’s most significant shots. He went on to beat Lloyd Mangrum by four shots to win the Open against all the odds.

Jack Nicklaus hit many great golf shots throughout his career, so it is difficult to pick just one to stick on this list. Perhaps his most memorable round, though, came at the 1986 Masters at Augusta National. The great Golden Bear was dismissed before the tournament in an article that actually ended up spurring him on to produce one of the best sequences of golf playing in history, in true Nicklaus fashion. He hit an eagle followed by two birdies to set himself well on the way to slipping on that green jacket.

There have been many great hole-in-ones over the years, but Miguel Angel Jimemez’s at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2008 has got to rank up there with the best. He hit a 6-iron on the par 3 7^th and watched on as the ball dropped straight into the hole without a bounce or a roll. Straight in. It was one of those shots that blow your mind the first time you see them – you’re left wondering if the cameraman has lost track of the ball until you see Jimenez pluck it from the hole.

It is so difficult to identify the greatest of all great golf shots and the debate will go on for years to come.

Sergio makes it two-in-a-row with Valderrama victory

Sergio Garcia continued his rebirth back into the game’s elite with a gritty display to win the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, beating compatriot Miguel Angel Jiminez by a solitary stroke.

After his demolition job last week at the Castello Masters, Garcia arrived at the venue where he has three-times finished as a runner-up, but made no mistake at the fourth time of asking; posting a level-par round of 71 to become the first Spaniard to win a strokeplay event over the course.

Jiminez had tied overnight leader Garcia early in the second round with birdies at the 2^nd and 3^rd holes, but found himself one behind his compatriot by the turn, after back-to-back losses at the sixth and seventh.

But on the homeward nine, Garcia first regained a share of the lead at the 11^th hole, before taking the lead outright at the 13^th when Jiminez made bogey. A birdie at the next gave Garcia a two-shot lead, and it became three when Jiminez dropped another shot behind at the 15^th before staging a late rally with a pair of birdies at the 16^th and 17^th holes to cut the gap back to one shot.

Another birdie at the 18^th hole looked likely when Jiménez found the fairway and then the green in two, but he left his 15-foot putt agonisingly short and Garcia, who had missed the putting surface at the last, held his nerve to get up-and down to claim a second successive triumph.

“It’s very, very special,” said Garcia afterwards. “Valderrama – I have so much history here and unfortunately it wasn’t as good as this until now!”

“I’m out of words. It’s been two amazing weeks. Miguel fought so hard and had some good chances coming in, 17 for eagle and 18 for birdie.”

“I wasn’t as good as probably the last 13 days, but we hung on and managed to pull through.”

Garcia now leads the points race for next year’s European Ryder Cup team and added:

“Ryder Cup years are always special for me, so hopefully we can make that team.”

Scot Richie Ramsay battled hard to match the two Spaniards, but will be left to rue a double-bogey five at the par-3 15^th hole which halted his momentum just as he was looking to get involved in the finish. The Scot eventually finished 4-under par to claim third spot – one behind Jiminez.

Irishman Shane Lowry and England’s Steve Webster took fourth and fifth spots on the leaderboard, finishing 3-under par and 2-under par respectively.

Impressive Bo Van Pelt wins in Malaysia

Birdies at five of the last eight holes saw American Bo Van Pelt cap an impressive six-shot victory at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia.

Van Pelt signed for a closing 64 that gave him a sizeable win over second placed Jeff Overton, with Swede Freddie Jacobsen a further shot behind in third.

Van Pelt had taken a one-shot lead into the final round over Ryder Cup player Jeff Overton and struggled to shake off the attentions of Overton, who is still seeking his first win. But Van Pelt moved up a gear after the turn, making birdies on the 11^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th and 17^th holes. Overton meanwhile felt the heat of Van Pelt’s birdie blitz and slumped to back-to-back bogeys on the 12^th and 13^th holes, and despite birdies at the 15^th and 17^th the gap was too great to peg back.

“I’ve had a couple of chances to win this year, but didn’t come out on top,” Van Pelt said after his win. “Canada was a tough pill to swallow. I just wanted to learn from that and do a better job when I had the lead. I take a lot of satisfaction in how I played today.”

“I played well all day. I didn’t make any bogeys. I just tried to play to game plan all week.”

The event, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and Asian Tour saw Van Pelt lift a winner’s cheque of $1.3 million. Although the event is co-sanctioned, Van Pelt’s win doesn’t count as an official win on the PGA Tour, but does for the Asian Tour.

Overton was philosophical about once again playing second fiddle after holding chances to win.

“That was one of the best rounds of golf I’ve seen. I didn’t play a great round. I played a solid round. I kind of had a couple of hiccups. He birdied some holes that I bogeyed and those were huge momentum shifters.”

A three-way tie for fourth saw Columbia’s Camilo Villegas, and United States pair Cameron Tringale and Mark Wilson finish on 15-under par, while John Senden, Ryan Palmer and Vijay Sing finished a further shot behind in a share of 7^th place.

McIlroy wins Shanghai Masters

Rory McIlroy returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his runaway eight shot US Open victory by claiming victory in the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters.

But this time there was no runaway victory for the Irishman; instead he had to fend off the challenge of Anthony Kim in a playoff before sealing the deal.

McIlroy had started the day looking comfortable with a three shot lead over the field, but a bogey at the very first hole was met with a birdie by Kim, and the gap was down to one. Kim levelled with the Irishman with a birdie at the sixth hole, before McIlroy edged in front once more at the next.

A birdie at the tenth saw the American once again draw level, and Kim took the lead when McIlroy bogeyed the 11^th hole. The Irishman remained one behind until the 15^th hole where he made birdie to share the lead, and the pair couldn’t be separated from that point; both signing for 18-under par 270.

At the first extra hole, McIlroy was inside Kim’s ball in three, and with a three-footer for par, Kim missed the hole. McIlroy made his two-footer to secure the par and the win, for his fourth victory as a professional and his second of the season.

A strong field for the event, which doesn’t bear any official status as a Tour event, was left trailing in the wake of McIlroy and Kim as the duo went head to head, with Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan finishing in third, five shots back alongside Seung-yul Noh of Korea.

Defending champion Lee Westwood fired an ace at the 12^th hole en-route to a fifth placed finish, while Ian Poulter finished a further stroke behind in sixth.

McIlroy, who has recently split with manager Chubby Chandler, was watched by his girlfriend – women’s tennis World number one, Caroline Wozniacki – and lifted a winners cheque for £1.25 million – the most he’s ever won at a tournament.

Top 10 Golf Golf Courses never to have hosted a Major

I was in sitting in the Uppin Arms the other night with some fellow members of the pub’s golfing society when I mentioned how shameful it was that the Open Championship had never been staged at Royal County Down, which is, in my opinion, the UK’s best links course. Pat the Treasurer’s head came up out of his shot even quicker than it does during his golf swing. “That’s nothing,” he shouted, spitting a couple of quid’s worth of fine single malt down his front. “Kingsbarns is the best damned links course in the country and it’s not on the Open rota, or even scheduled to go on. Take a look at the bloody R&A’s website if you don’t believe me!” Read more

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