The Most Underrated Shots in Major History
- trackmengolf
- May 10, 2020
- 7 min read
The interruption to professional golf due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has led to a revamped PGA tour schedule with the three US based majors taking place later this year and the Open championship cancelled altogether. The absence of live sport has caused us all to do more looking back than forward and regular re-runs of majors of the past has given us the opportunity to revisit many incredible shots that have been forgotten. Though we never really get tired of it, we’ve all seen a bit too much of those shots from the brightest stars in golf such as Tiger’s chip-in from the back of the 16th at Augusta, Tiger’s putt at the last at the US Open in 2008 and Tiger winning his 15th major title at the Masters last year. See the pattern developing? Hopefully this article will trigger a few memories of great moments that haven’t gotten the same airtime.
Paul Lawrie - 2nd shot to 18th at Carnoustie in playoff (1999 Open)
The 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie will forever be remembered by the man who lost it rather than the man who won it. The tournament appeared to be over when unheralded Frenchman Jean Van de Velde teed off on the 18th with a three shot lead, but what transpired next would go down in folklore as one of golf’s greatest collapses. Both the ball and Van de Velde ended up in the burn thirty yards short of the green, as he briefly toyed with the idea of playing his fifth shot out of the water before going on to make a triple bogey and force a playoff with Lawrie and Justin Leonard. Lawrie, who’d started the day ten shots back of the leader, held a one shot lead over Leonard in the four hole playoff going down the 18th before the American hit his second into the water. The most sensible thing to do next would have been to lay up and eliminate any further risk but Lawrie, riding the crest of a wave at this point, took dead-aim with his 4-iron and rifled it to 4 feet before going on to make the putt and become only the second Scotsman to win the Open since 1921.
Sergio Garcia – 2nd shot to 15th at Augusta (2017 Masters)
It says a lot about how forgotten this shot is that it is has faded into the abyss of most people’s memories, only to be replaced by the fresher image of Garcia carding a 13 (yes, thir-teen) at the very same hole a year later. Garcia dunked 5 balls into the water on Augusta’s final par 5 on the very first occasion he’d played the hole in competition as the reigning champion, and that calamity will likely always overshadow the magnificence of his second shot on the same hole on his way to breaking his major duck in 2017. Proximity to the hole doesn’t always define what makes a shot great, and the 15 foot that Garcia had left when putting for eagle on this occasion certainly doesn’t do the quality of his approach justice. Infamously winless in 70 attempts in majors to that point, it looked like more of the same for Garcia after he pulled his tee shot left into the trees on the 13th before he miraculously salvaged a par on that hole. By the time he got to the 15th fairway, his confidence was rejuvenated and Garcia ripped an 8-iron straight at the flag. Squinting into the setting Augusta sun, he could only watch in angst as his perfectly struck shot clattered into the base of the pin and rolled away to 15 feet from what would have been near tap-in range. Excusing the pun, he managed to putt his misfortune to one side by holing the subsequent eagle attempt in what was to become the pivotal moment in ending his major drought.
Padraig Harrington – 5th shot to 18th at Carnoustie (2007 Open)
We’re only two memories in and have had no Irish golfer reference, so time to put that right. Carnoustie’s 18th hole again played host to one of the most dramatic finishes to any major in recent memory as our very own Padraig Harrington overcame the aforementioned Sergio Garcia to win his first of two Open titles. Harrington, playing the last hole with a one shot lead over Garcia at the time, saw fit to try and better Jean Van de Velde’s collapse by putting two balls in the water in the very same burn. With the chance of a coveted first major title slipping through his grasp, Harrington managed to compose himself well enough to produce one of the finest up and downs you’ll ever witness. It’s that kind of high-tariff pitch shot that us amateurs marvel at, obsessed with the novelty of putting spin on the ball. Harrington was always renowned for his short game skills but his ability to execute that low pitch with the ball seemingly racing through the green before grinding to a halt as if he had somehow slammed on a brake pedal would become his trademark. Harrington was totally unaware of the importance of that shot at the time, but it meant he had a short tap-in to finish with a double bogey and finish one shot behind Garcia. And we all know what happened next.
Justin Thomas – 2nd shot to 18th at Erin Hills (2017 US Open)
The 2017 US Open saw Brooks Koepka open his major account around the beastly Erin Hills, the longest venue ever to host a major championship measuring 7,741 yards and made longer still by heavy rain that fell earlier that week. Power was the key attribute required as Koepka bludgeoned his way to his maiden US Open but it’s also the aspect that best sums up Justin Thomas’ incredible approach to the final hole of his third round. Thomas’ 63 broke the record for the lowest 18 hole score in a US Open and he capped it off in fitting fashion. Left with all but 300 yards for his approach to the par 5 18th, Thomas ripped a 3 wood a distance most mortals would never reach with a teed up driver to 7 feet, holing the eagle putt to propel himself into the lead going into the final round. Thomas would have to wait a year and a bit before breaking his major duck and that undoubtedly contributed to this shot being slightly forgotten, but it’s surely one of the extraordinary in major history. “Oh God Jimmy, be good”, Thomas said to his caddy Jimmy Johnson as he scarcely believed what he had just pulled off. It was a bit better than good, Justin.
Gary Woodland – 2nd shot to 17th at Pebble Beach (2019 US Open)
Recency bias is something we are all guilty of when trying to evaluate the merit of past achievements, but the bigger crime in this instance was how little appreciation there was in the aftermath of Gary Woodland’s sublime chip on the 17th at Pebble Beach that helped secure him a first major title at the US Open. Gary Woodland is one of golf’s nice guys, popular amongst his peers and as can sometimes be the case with sportspeople brandished with that tag, he had been accused of lacking that killer instinct required to capitalise on opportunities to win. The previous season, Woodland had spurned a golden opportunity to land the PGA Championship at Bellerive when falling victim to the certified killer Brooks Koepka, and as chance would have it, it was the same man who was chasing down Woodland at Pebble Beach when he flared his tee shot to the par 3 17th. He couldn’t have placed the ball in a worse spot, resting at the very edge of the green behind a piece of rough jutting out which made it almost impossible for him to get within 20 feet of the hole using his putter. It’s hard enough to get over the line in a major when you are in the middle of the fairway, but when you are forced to take a lofted wedge out on the tightest of lies when chipping is not your strength (Woodland had ranked 107th, 177th and 93rd in the SG around the green in the 3 previous seasons) and with Koepka looming over your shoulder, no one could have expected what he was about to produce. Woodland calmly executed the chip to land on the perfect spot, checking up a few yards before the hole to leave himself a stress free tap-in and all but close out his first major championship.
Y.E. Yang – 2nd shot to 18th at Hazeltine (2009 PGA Championship)
There is still some debate over whether Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods is the greatest player to ever play the game of golf, but there is very little to argue against Tiger being the most difficult to pass when leading going into the final round of a major. Tiger is an incredible 55 wins from 59 attempts when he has his head in front going into the final round of a tournament over his career and 14 of his 15 major wins have come in that fashion. The blip on that astonishing major record came courtesy of a little known South Korean by the name of Yang Yong-eun, or Y.E. Yang as he is more commonly known. Few would have suspected that such an unknown quantity would have stood a chance of overtaking the greatest frontrunner in the sport’s history going into the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship, but as Tiger faulted, Yang took advantage spectacularly with the final nail in the coffin coming courtesy of a stunning approach to the 18th. Even with Yang a shot ahead of Tiger playing the last, most felt that Tiger would pull something out of the fire when he needed it most. This time however, it was Yang who would produce the fireworks. Faced with a 210 yard approach shot and a tree in his path, Yang drew in a magnificent 3-hybrid to 10 feet and holed the subsequent birdie putt to end Tiger’s front-running dominance. The image of him holding aloft his bag on the 18th green lives long in the memory, but few will recall the quality of some of the shots he produced to hold off the world’s best and gain an unlikely major victory.
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