Fun golf stuffGolf Features

Top 5 Golf Shots – Under Pressure

By September 30, 2011December 3rd, 2014No Comments

Golf BallVirtually every player on tour these days is good enough to shoot the lights out on the majority of the golf courses they play but it is the ability to cope with the pressure of tournament play that determines how effectively they put their sublime skills to use. Needless to say that pressure grows the further into a tournament and the closer to the title the player in question gets. For avid golf fans there is nothing quite like watching two golfing heavyweights fighting it out down the stretch come Sunday in a big tournament. In many cases this situation produces a spectacular collapse which hands the tournament to another golfer or an amazing “clutch” shot to which wins the player in question the title. Recently we saw one of the finest clutch shots of recent years at the Tour Championship as Bill Haas splashed out of a water hazard to three feet to save par and win the tournament and of course the $10,000,000 FedEx Cup. This got us thinking about the best pressure shots in golf’s history and here are five of our favourites.



Tiger Woods – 2008 US Open

Tiger battled his way around Torrey Pines in 2008 having played much of the season with a ruptured ligament in his knee; something that he only mentioned after winning the tournament. Oh…and he also had a double stress fracture in his tibia! Having been in contention for most of the tournament he arrived on the 72nd hole trailing Rocco Mediate by a solitary shot. Rocco was the leader in the clubhouse so Woods knew exactly what was required. Birdie would force an 18 hole Monday playoff. Anything less would hand the title to Mediate. Tiger wasn’t going home without the trophy and duly snuck the putt on the side door. He would go on to beat Rocco on the Monday following a string of miraculous recovery shots and this would go down as one of the finest major victories in the history of golf.



Phil Mickelson – 2010 Masters

Phil “The Thrill” Mickelson was long known as the best player never to have won a major until he nagged his first at the 2004 Masters. Arriving at the 2010 Masters he had added to his total and with Tiger out of the field he went into the tournament as favourite for the title. Battling a determined Lee Westwood on Sunday Phil arrived on the 13th hole and upon failing to swing his drive around the corner he found his ball sitting on the pine needles beneath the towering pine trees that line the fairways at Augusta. Most players would have punched out and gone for the green in three but this was Mickelson we are talking about. Phil pulled out a six iron and fired through a narrow gap in the trees putting his ball four feet from the pin. This was the blow that seemed to floor Westwood whose challenge faded soon after leaving Phil to get his hands on his third green jacket.



Tiger Woods – 2005 Masters

Tiger has had many battles down the stretch but his tussle with a steely Chris DiMarco is one of the closest run to date. Woods was leading by one heading to the 16th but pulled his tee shot left of the green to leave a seemingly impossible chip while DiMarco was sitting pretty ten feet below the pin. A two shot swing looked in the offing and then Woods did what no one on earth was expecting…least of all himself! Tiger skipped his ball away from the [in up a steep slope and got the check he was looking for at the perfect time. The ball turned and started its descent to the hole. Ten feet from the pin it looked good. When it got to three feet from the pin everyone watching realised what was about to happen but then the ball stopped, hanging over the edge of the hole, the masses held their breath. Then, as Nike could have only dreamed, the ball toppled into the hole and the golfing world had seen one of the best and most dramatic shot in the history of the game. Rattled, DiMarco missed his birdie putt and in the sudden death playoff Woods rolled in an 18 foot birdie putt to seal his fourth Masters title.



Padraig Harrington – 2008 Open Championship

After his surprising win at the Open the year before Harrington added a PGA Championship top his major haul and headed to the 2008 Open Championship as arguably the form player in the world. The field had battled with a brutally tough Royal Birkdale over the first three days and it was the plucky Irishman who had coped with the conditions the best. Arriving on the 71st hole with a two shot lead Harrington found the fairway and had a decision to make. Play for a par and hope no one in the chasing pack would pick up a shot or fire a fairway wood at the green. Considering the monstrous cross wind that was blowing at the time many were surprised to see the fairway wood come out of the bag. In a do or die moment Harrington aimed miles left fired away. The ball ended four feet from then hole and barring an unthinkable disaster on the final hole the Claret Jug was set to remain in Paddy’s trophy cabinet for another year.



Shaun Micheel – 2003 PGA Championship

Not many had heard of Shaun Micheel before the 2003 PGA Championship; in fact he had not won in his previous 163 starts on the PGA Tour but following a week of hitting laser guided iron shots Micheel would secure his place in golf’s history books. The  golf course at Oak Hill had been playing extremely tough all week long and arriving at the 72nd hole Micheel was leading by one on 3 under par. Many players with such little experience of that kind of pressure would have buckled but after finding the semi rough just left of the fairway Micheel sent a purely struck 7 iron soaring towards the green. His caddie immediately shouted “be right” as the ball looked to be heading for the pin. After a hop, skip and a jump it came to rest just two inches from the hole and the formerly winless Micheel was now a major champion.



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Rory

Rory

The resident golf geek at Your Golf Travel. Have been lucky enough to have travelled far and wide playing golf and if I’m not writing about it at work, you will probably find me hacking it around my local course. Owner of 2 holes in one and some of the most crooked drives you have ever seen!

What's in my bag?
Srixon ZX5 Driver
Srixon ZX7 irons
Srixon ZX 2 iron
Cleveland RTX Zipcore 52 & 56
Cleveland Fullface 60
Odyssey O Works Red #7 putter

www.yourgolftravel.com/ygt-rory

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