The 100 Greatest Golf Shots of All Time

Posted by Robert

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20. Andy Bean
Event: 1991 Kapalua International, 18th hole Kapalua Plantation Course, Maui
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
PGA Pro Andy Bean has the longest double eagle in PGA Tourney history, holing out the 663 yard 18th on his second shot.
19. Momoko Ueda
Event: 2007 Mizuno Classic, 7th hole
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Overnight she was tied for the lead going into the final round. Ueda holed a double-eagle at the par-5 7th and put the rest of the field behind her.

She won her first LPGA Tour event, becoming the first Japanese-born golfer to win on the LPGA Tour in the 2000s.
18. Jack Nicklaus
Event: 1980 US Open, 17th hole at Baltusrol
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
At the US Open, Jack Nicklaus was coming off of his first year (1979) without a win. Jack quieted the whispers of him being washed up with his stellar play.

On 17, as the galleries chanted "Jack's Back!" he faced a 22 foot putt. Isao Aoki, one of the best golfers at the time, was trailing Jack by two. Jack drained the putt and went on to win his fourth US Open.
17. Annika Sorenstam
Event: 2003 Skins Game, 9th hole
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Annika broke new ground in 2003, playing with the big boys at the Colonial. In the Skins Game against Phil Mickelson, Mark O'Meara and Fred Couples, she dropped in an eagle on the par-5 9th and won $175,000. That was the most ever by a player on the first day of the Skins Game.
16. Bret Melson
Event: 2007, Ko'olau Golf Club Oahu, Hawaii
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
One yard means a lot when you are talking about a 448 yard hole in one. This guy made a hole-in-one, beating the old record for the longest hole in one by one yard.
15. Peter Lonard
Event: 2007 Player's Championship, 2nd hole at TPC Sawgrass
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Two double eagles in one tourney, that's a statistical anomaly.
14. Brett Stowkowy
Event: 2010, 18th hole at Kapalua Plantation Course, Maui
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
During casual play, Brett hole hit an amazing 227-yard approach that found the bottom of the cup.

But this Regular Joe has something in common with PGA Pro Andy Bean -- they share the record for the longest double eagle ever recorded.
13. Justin Leonard
Event: 1999 Ryder Cup, 17th hole at The Country Club in Brookline
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
This makes Larry Mize's shirt not look so ugly.
12. Toft Hansen
Event: 2010 Junior Tournament, Gelleleje Golf Club, Olsted, Denmark
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
What did you do for your summer break? Ten year-old Toft made a double eagle on a 419 yard par five during a junior tournament, making her the youngest person to score a double eagle.
11. Tiger Woods
Event: 1994 U.S. Amateur, 17th hole at Sawgrass
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Tiger's Dad lost a lot of money after investing in StrawGolfHats.com
10. Jack Nicklaus
Event: 1972 US Open, Pebble Beach Golf Links
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Maybe God can't hit a 1-iron, but Jack can.
9. Hale Irwin
Event: 1990 US Open, 18th hole at Medinah
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Hale was playing the US Open on a special exemption. He came to the last hole needing a birdie to shoot 67. He rolled in a 45-footer that sent the gallery into hysterics and Hale did a lap around the green giving high fives.

Irwin would later need 37 more holes to beat Mike Donald and become the oldest US Open winner ever at age 45.
8. Ben Hogan
Event: 1950 US Open, 18th hole at Merion
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Sixteen months prior to this shot, Ben Hogan was in a head-on car accident with a Greyhound bus that probably should have killed him except that he threw himself in front of his wife, Valerie to protect her. This ultimately saved him as the steering column had punctured the driver seat.

With both of his legs wrapped and after playing 35 holes in one day, he hit an amazing and historical 2-iron shot over a grassed-over quarry. He would make par and play an 18 hole playoff the next day. Hogan shot a one-under par 69 to finish four strokes ahead of Lloyd Mangrum and six ahead of George Fazio.
7. Jack Nicklaus
Event: 1977 The Memorial
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Jack is the man, holing this bunker shot to win his own tourney.
6. Fred Couples
Event: 1994 1st Presidents Cup, Robert Trent Jones Golf Course
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Freddy eats pressure for breakfast.
5. Tiger Woods
Event: 2005 Masters, 16th hole at Augusta National
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
"In your life have you seen anything like that?" No, and I still haven't.
4. Tom Morris Jr.
Event: 1870 British Open, Prestwick Golf Club
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
A golf pioneer, "Young Tom Morris" made history at the tenth British Open making a three on the 578-yard par six first hole. Young Tom went on to win the Open Championship.

It was his third victory in a row from 1868 to 1870.
3. Tiger Woods
Event: 2000 Canadian Open, 18th and final hole
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Tiger strikes from a fairway bunker, over water with the tourney on the line. He became only the second person to hold US Open, British Open and Canadian Open titles at the same time.
2. Gene Sarazen
Event: 1935 Masters, 15th hole at Augusta National
Entertainment: 3
Significance: 3
Difficulty: 3
The shot heard 'round the world.

In 1935 Gene Sarazen, the most famous golfer of the time was three shots back with four to play at the 15th hole of the Masters. The leader, Craig Wood, had already birdied 18 and was freshening up preparing for the winner's ceremony. Gene, knowing he'd need to birdie three of the next four holes, pulled out a 4-wood from 230 yards out. He'd need to carry a pond, and hold the green with water behind.

Wrote Sarazen in "Thirty Years of Championship Golf": "I took my stance with my 4-wood and rode into the shot with every ounce of strength and timing I could muster. The split second I hit the ball I knew it would carry the pond. It tore for the flag on a very low trajectory, no more than thirty feet in the air."

The ball disappeared into the hole for a double eagle. But what most people never heard was Walter Hagen heckling Sarazen before the shot saying "Hurry up and hit, I have a date tonight!"

Click here to see a video interview about this shot.


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