Are These The Best Golf Shots You Have Ever Seen

By: Derek Clements | Mon 26 Jun 2023

“WHAT a shot!” It is a line you hear from commentators time after time. And the truth is that the world’s top professional golfers play a game with which the rest of us are not familiar.

And for true sports fans there is nothing better than to be able to say: “I was there.” And I have been, many times. It’s a tough task to come up with the best golf shots that I have ever seen in the flesh, but I have managed to come up with my top 10.

You will be familiar with some of these shots. Others may have passed you by.

I have said many times that I feel blessed to have been able to get up close and personal so many times during my career. And I am so lucky to have seen each and every one of these golf shots and been left shaking my head in wonder at what I have just witnessed.

So here are the 10 greatest shots I have ever seen. In compiling this list I have taken into account the circumstances under which one was played.

Nick Faldo, 14th, Ryder Cup, The Belfry, 1993

I was standing behind the tee when Faldo pulled a six iron at the 189-yard par three in his singles match against Paul Azinger. He struck it perfectly and it soared through the air and tracked towards the hole. And lo and behold, it only disappeared into the hole. I longed to hear him say to Azinger: “You’ve got that for the half.” Faldo later revealed that he had told his teammates he had a feeling he was going to record a hole-in-one at some stage during the week.

Lee Trevino, 17th, The Open, Muirfield, 1972

Twelve months earlier, Trevino had won The Open at Royal Birkdale. But what he did at Muirfield may well have been the performance that ended Tony Jacklin’s career as a major contender. Two chip-ins from off the green helped Trevino to string together a run of five straight birdies at the end of round three, lifting him one clear of Jacklin heading into the final day. Jacklin and Trevino were tied at the top of the leaderboard with two holes to play and the latter’s race looked to be run when he made a mess of the 17th. I was standing on a bank beside the green - the American had played four shots and still wasn’t on the green. I looked on in utter disbelief as he chipped in once again to salvage a par, knocking the stuffing out of a stunned Jacklin, who three-putted for bogey before dropping another shot at the last.

Jack Nicklaus, 18th, The Open, St Andrews, 1970

Jack Nicklaus had been given a second chance after Doug Sanders missed a tiddler to win The Open in regulation play. The pair returned the next day for an 18-hole playoff. I was standing behind the 18th tee when Nicklaus arrived. He took off his jumper and launched a tee shot that made the earth shake. He hit it soo well that it finished through the back of the green - 380 yards away. With a persimmon driver and a balata golf ball. He would get up and down for his birdie to defeat Sanders, and then almost knocked out Sanders when he threw his putter skywards and it narrowly missed him as it landed. But it was that drive that special.

Seve Ballesteros, 18th, The Open, St Andrews, 1984

With Tom Watson having an argument with the wall at the back of the 17th green, Save Ballesteros was on the final green in two with a breaking 12-foot putt. He knew that he needed to hole it to ensure he would pick up the Claret Jug. It wasn’t so much watching Seve hole the putt (I knew he was going to) as the iconic and joyous celebration that followed when the ball dropped into the hole. If ever there was a moment when you wanted to say “I was there”, this is it. And I was.

Costantino Rocca 18th, The Open, St Andrews, 1995

Rocca stood on the 18th tee knowing that he needed a birdie to force a playoff with John Daly for the Claret Jug. His drive came up short and then hit a chip shot that 24-handicappers would have been embarrassed by. It was a stone-cold duff. The Italian was distraught. With Daly now convinced he had won, Rocca took his putter for his third shot and looked on as it rolled into the Valley of Sin, climbed onto the putting surface and finished up in the hole. He collapsed, pounding the grass. It was the shot of a lifetime. Sadly, he had nothing left and easily lost the playoff.

Paul Dunne, 18th, British Masters, Close House, 2017

When I watched Paul Dunne win the British Masters at Close House in 2017 I believed that I was watching a young Irish golfer who would go on to claim many more titles. Sadly, it hasn’t turned out that way. This is the golfer who had the 54-hole lead at The Open at St Andrews in 2015 as an amateur. The weather at Close House was wet and cold but you would never have known it from watching Dunne. He was imperious, despite having Rory McIlroy breathing down his neck. He had a final round of 61 and slammed the door shut on McIlroy when he holed a stunning pitch shot for a birdie at the 18th. It brought the house down.

Christy O’Connor Junior, 18th, Ryder Cup, The Belfry, 1989

O’Connor had a Ryder Cup to forget in 1975 and had to wait 14 years for his chance to set the record straight. And boy did he ever. He was a controversial captain’s pick and he clearly felt that he had a point to prove. Europe led by two points going into the final day’s singles but the Americans came fighting back. O’Connor was playing Fred Couples and they were all square coming to the final hole. Couples hit a massive drive, leaving himself just a nine iron to the green. O’Connor was miles back and opted to hit a two iron. He struck it perfectly and it finished four feet from the hole. It remains one of the greatest shots I have ever witnessed. It was enough to win the hole and ensure Europe and the USA finished tied at 14-14, with Europe retaining the trophy.

Justin Rose, 18th, The Open, Royal Birkdale, 1998

Rose was an unknown 17-year-old junior who had stolen the show with his play at Birkdale. Unsurprisingly with the full spotlight on him he had struggled in the heat of battle on the final day. He had opened with a 72 and followed it with a superb 66. He shot a 75 in the third round. Playing the 18th on the final day, he was still 50 yards short of the green in two. I was standing directly behind the green as he hit his third and remember thinking that it was bang on line. And the huge galleries erupted when it disappeared into the hole. Mark O’Meara won The Open but it was Rose’s fourth-place finish that everybody remembers.

Paul McGinley, 18th, Ryder Cup, The Belfry, 2002

I have attended several Ryder Cups but few come close to 2002 at The Belfry. I started the final day watching Colin Montgomerie thrash Scott Hoch 5&4 and then darted around the course on a glorious September day to catch up with the other singles matches. I saw some sparkling golf that day but the shot that will live with me forever was Paul McGinley’s 10-foot putt on the 18th green to halve his match with Jim Furyk and secure the point that ensured Europe would win the Ryder Cup. From the second he hit the ball I just knew it was heading into the centre of the hole. To do that with all that pressure was something very special.

Jordan Spieth, 14th, Royal Birkdale, The Open, 2017

When people talk about Jordan Spieth’s victory in The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017 they tend to focus on his recovery shot after a wild drive at the 13th. It helped him to get away with a bogey on a hole when he should have been running up a cricket score. But, for me, the shot of the tournament, and one of the best I have ever witnessed in the flesh, came at the next hole, the par-three 14th. His brain must have been frazzled after taking the best part of 30 minutes to play the previous hole and let Matt Kuchar back into the hunt. But he struck a glorious shot and nearly had a hole in one. The birdie got him back on track. And he would also hole a huge eagle putt on the 15th and another for a birdie on the 16th as he won by three shots.