
Woods celebrates with caddie after chipping in at Augusta.
It is something that is sure to start a debate among any true golf fans. What is the greatest shot of all time?
There are many candidates - far to many to mention in one blog, but here I will attempt to pick my top five. Not everyone will agree, but one thing is sure, they are all spectacular in their own right.
In such a list it would be so easy to pick out five stunning hole-in-ones - because that is the perfect shot, right?
But no, that would be too easy. For this exercise, it involved thinking outside the box a bit - not me, but the players.
They are shots where any average golfer who plays at his local course would not think to play. Shots which only the finest players the game has to offer could possibly dream of pulling off.
Admittedly two hole-in-ones have made this list - no list would be complete without at least one, so we've gone for two here.
So pour yourself a cup of tea, and sit back to enjoy some of the finest plays that the beautiful game of golf has served up down the years.
1. Miguel Ángel Jiménez - The Open Championship, St Andrews, 2010.
Maybe not the most technically brilliant shot of all time, but this effort from the quirky Spaniard deserves it's place in this list as much as any of the others. Having left his approach shot tight to the wall, Jiménez was left with no room to get his swing in. As the BBC commentary team began to ridicule him he turned the tables on them, reverting to mini-golf tactics by using the wall to his advantage, and pulling a truly sensational shot out of the bag.
2. Phil Mickelson – The Masters, Augusta National, 2010.
Every amateur golfer has done it – hooked their tee shot horribly wide of the fairway and landed up behind the local flora. It is a nightmare to get out of, and anyone with a level head on their shoulders would probably accept their fate and tap the ball back out onto the fairway. Phil Mickelson is different from everyone else though, he spotted a gap that even his caddy did not know existed, drawing the ball round the tree nicely to set up a putt for birdie.
3. Tiger Woods – The Masters, Augusta National, 2005.
It's easy to forget that Tiger Woods, currently sitting 20th in the world, was actually once a candidate for 'greatest golfer of all time'. Year by year he would pull incredible shots out of the bag that surprised even his most avid fans. But this, at the 16th hole in 2005, may well top the lot. Leaving the ball in a reasonably putt-able position would have been enough for any of the other players that day, but Tiger was no ordinary golfer and just had to go one better.
4. Fuzzy Zoeller – Allianz Championship, Glen Oaks Country Club, 2006.
A controversial character, to say the least, Fuzzy Zoeller was certainly someone who knew how to grab an audiences attention – not always for the right reasons. The first of two hole-in-ones in this list, this shot makes it in, not because it was the finest shot that day, but because of the truly ridiculous circumstances in which it occurred. What looks to be a distinctly average shot, suddenly turns into something much, much greater – did he mean it? Or was it just the crafty work of the devil?
5. Miguel Ángel Jiménez – Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates Golf Club, 2008.
Last, but by no means least, it must be such an honour for Jiménez to make it onto this list twice. If his earlier shot made it on for being inventive, this one makes it on for being truly sublime. It is rare to see a hole-in-one anyway, but hitting it so accurately that it drops straight into the hole without even so much as a bounce is pretty much unheard of. It takes you a moment to realise that the ball has actually gone in at first, but when you do, it leaves you astounded.
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