Golf history
The Most Memorable Shots in Golf
Single swings that decided a major and then outlived it. Each one here says what it actually did to the tournament, links the players we hold a record for, and names the source — so the facts around the shot are checkable even though the order is a judgement.
How this list is ordered. Ranked on two things: what the shot decided at the time, and how far it travelled afterwards — whether it is still shown, quoted and named decades later. Both are judgements, and this is the one list on this site that is not computed from the ranking.
- 1
The shot heard ’round the world
Gene Sarazen · Masters Tournament 1935
- Hole
- 15th, a par 5 of 485 yards
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A 4-wood from 235 yards, holed for a double eagle
- What it did
- Erased a three-shot deficit in a single stroke and tied Craig Wood
Sarazen needed the whole back nine to catch Craig Wood, who was already being congratulated in the clubhouse. He holed his second at the 15th for a two — three shots in one swing — and finished level. The next day he won the 36-hole playoff by five, and the bridge at the 15th carries his name.
The Sarazen Bridge on No. 15 | Every Hole Tells A Story · The Masters — The Masters’ own account of the shot and the bridge named after it — not contemporaneous footage of the swing. - 2
The chip on 16
Tiger Woods · Masters Tournament 2005
- Hole
- 16th, a par 3
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A chip from about 50 feet, played some 20 feet left of the hole to use the slope
- What it did
- Birdie, and the lead pushed back to two with two to play
Woods missed the green and aimed his chip well left of the flag, letting the slope carry it down. The ball stopped on the lip, hung there, and fell in. DiMarco missed his birdie putt from 20 feet, then forced a playoff with a putt at the last — and Woods won it at the 18th for a fourth Masters.
Tiger Woods’ Chip on 16 | Iconic Masters Moments · The Masters - 3
Yes sir
Jack Nicklaus · Masters Tournament 1986
- Hole
- 17th, a par 4
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A birdie putt holed after long deliberation
- What it did
- Sole possession of the lead for the first time all week, at 46
Nicklaus was 46 and had not won a major in six years. He shot 65 with a back nine of 30, and the putt at the 17th gave him the outright lead for the first time in the tournament. He won by one from Tom Kite and Greg Norman — a sixth Masters and an 18th major.
Great Calls in Masters History: Jack Nicklaus - 1986 · The Masters - 4
The shot from the water
Se Ri Pak · U.S. Women’s Open 1998
- Hole
- A water hazard at Blackwolf Run
- Round
- Regulation, to stay tied for the lead
- The shot
- Played out of the water rather than taking a drop
- What it did
- Stayed tied for first and forced the playoff she went on to win
Pak was 20 and in her rookie year. The shot from the hazard kept her level at the top, and the championship went to a 20-hole Monday playoff against the amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn — also 20 — who matched her 73 over the full 18 before Pak birdied the second sudden-death hole from nearly 20 feet. A statue in Gongju commemorates the shot. She was the only South Korean on the LPGA Tour that year; ten years later there were 45.
U.S. Women’s Open Classic Finishes: 1998 · United States Golf Association Source: 1998 U.S. Women’s Open — Wikipedia, Se Ri Pak — Wikipedia
- 5
“I’m going to sink it”
Tom Watson · U.S. Open 1982
- Hole
- 17th, a par 3 at Pebble Beach
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A chip from thick rough above the hole, holed against the flagstick
- What it did
- Birdie from a likely bogey, turning a one-shot deficit into the lead
Watson’s 2-iron finished left of the flag in heavy rough, short-sided and above the hole — a lie that usually costs a shot. His caddie Bruce Edwards told him to get it close; Watson said he was going to hole it, and did. He birdied the 18th as well and beat Jack Nicklaus, who was in the clubhouse, by two.
1982 U.S. Open: Watson Chips In to Edge Nicklaus · United States Golf Association Source: 1982 U.S. Open — Wikipedia
- 6
The car park birdie
Seve Ballesteros · The Open Championship 1979
- Hole
- 16th, at Royal Lytham & St Annes
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A drive into a temporary car park — and a birdie from it
- What it did
- Kept the lead on the way to a three-shot win over Nicklaus and Crenshaw
Ballesteros drove so far right at the 16th that his ball finished in a car park, and he still made birdie. He closed in 70 to win by three from Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw, at 22 the youngest Open champion of the twentieth century and the first player from continental Europe to win a major since 1907.
108th Open (1979) - Seve Ballesteros · The R&A Source: 1979 Open Championship — Wikipedia, Seve Ballesteros — Wikipedia
- 7
Eyes shut, from the tree
Sergio Garcia · PGA Championship 1999
- Hole
- 16th, at Medinah
- Round
- Final round
- The shot
- A low curving fade struck with his eyes shut, from against a tree trunk
- What it did
- Ran up onto the green — and did NOT win him the championship
Garcia was 19. His ball sat against a tree trunk in the right rough with the green hidden from view; he swung hard with his eyes shut and the ball ran up onto the green, then he sprinted into the fairway and scissor-kicked to see where it finished. He lost to Tiger Woods by one.
Sergio Garcia’s Amazing Shot and Celebration at Medinah · PGA Championships Source: 1999 PGA Championship — Wikipedia, Sergio García — Wikipedia
More shots will be added. Every ranking page on this site that is computed from the world ranking lives elsewhere — every world number one since 1986 and every major champion since 1860.