The worst shots in golf
Even the best in the world mess up spectacularly from time to time, so we take a bit of mischievous delight in reminding you of the days when things went wrong.
Seve Ballesteros, Masters 1986, Augusta National, hole 15
Everyone remembers Augusta in ’86 for the rousing Jack Nicklaus final round that brought her her sixth green jacket and 18th and final Major, but it never should have been like this.
As Nicklaus stood over a putt on the 16th, which he missed, Ballesteros was standing on the 15th fairway, waiting for Jack to finish and the ruckus to die down. Having won the 13th, he had delivered an excellent drive on the final par-5 of the course and was now with a two-shot lead and a 4-iron in his hands, ready to trade the remaining 210 yards for a certain birdie, possible eagle. . He knew the only way he could go wrong was to hit him short in the water, but that was the ultimate undoing for him because, subconsciously, he also knew he had too much stick. The swing was short and lacking in conviction and the ball unerringly went into the pond. Bogey six, followed by a three-putt bogey at 17.
Game over.
‘That will be a 44 wide,’ said Jack.
Phil Mickelson, Ryder Cup 2002, The Belfry, 6th hole
The world number two golfer was drawn to play the unknown Phillip Price in the singles at the 34th Ryder Cup and by the sixth hole he was starting to pick up the pace. A good shot, followed by a searing iron from three feet created the easiest birdie opportunity for Mickelson, especially as his opponent was in real trouble, having to stand halfway in a water hazard with the ball well above his feet. . He then produced a great shot and put the ball inside six feet himself. When he holed the putt for the most unlikely of birdies, Mickelson was taken aback and let it show. He not only missed but his putt never touched the sides.
“Tell them who I beat,” Phillip said.
Sandy Lyle, 1985 Open, Royal St George’s, 18th hole
Unusually in this selection, the man in question still won, but it was close. Having started the final day of the ’85 Open three strokes adrift, Britain’s favorite golfing son gradually crept back into contention and it looked as if a top par on 18th would be good enough for victory. But then Lyle approached Duncan’s Hollow, a dangerous hole in the ground to the left of the green, and the flagpole was perched just over a small rise. To bring him closer would take a delicate touch and in his first try Sandy had the touch of a donkey wearing boxing gloves. The ball returned directly to his feet. But unknown to him at the time, immediately behind the 17th, Bernhard Langer and David Graham were also bogeying, so Sandy’s second chip and putt were good enough. Fair.
“Stone me,” Sandy said. “Fuck ’em,” Langer and Graham said.
Curtis Strange, 1985 Masters, Augusta National, 13th and 15th holes
While everyone else gets a mention, Curtis gets two, in the same round, on the same day, within three holes. Having shot 80 the first day, he roared with rounds of 65 and 68. Then, on the front nine, he went to the turn with an under four for 32 and took the lead as statisticians looked at each other and agreed that yes, this would be the best comeback in Masters history. The man had played 45 holes at 15 under par and emerged virtually unscathed from Amen Corner. And then he took the wood from him 4 and threw it into the water. And then he did it again at 15 and came home in four. Fortunately, he recovered well enough to win back-to-back US Opens in ’88/89.
“This will either ruin you or make you a better player,” Jack Nicklaus said.
Ian Baker-Finch, 1984 Open, Old Course at St Andrews, first hole
Like many comparative unknowns before him, Ian Baker-Finch was largely ignored after a first-round 68 at the Open Championship, but the handsome Aussie with a smooth swing refused to go away. When he followed with a 66 to take a three-stroke lead, then consolidated with a 71 on day three, everyone took notice. Thus he began the final round of the most important day of his golfing life, leading the Open, alongside five-time champion Tom Watson. He was he nervous? No, his opening shot split the fairway, leaving a short iron to the first green. He hit it lightly and watched it settle to the surface of the green, before the ball was sucked back into the Swilken Burn, taking Baker-Finch’s hopes with it. He limped off in the 79th and finished tied for ninth.
“Damn burn,” he said.
Tom Watson, 1984 Open, St Andrews Old Course, 17th hole
The year before, Watson had won his fifth Open Championship, but now he desperately wanted a sixth to tie Harry Vardon’s all-time record, and to do at least one thing Jack Nicklaus hadn’t. He started the final day tied for the lead with Ian Baker-Finch and when he came to the 17th tee he was still sharing the lead, only this time with Seve Ballesteros, who was in the leading group. Seve made his first shot at the hole all week, but Watson, from the middle of the fairway, hit too much club: a 2-iron that ended up against the wall, on the other side of the fairway that gives the hole its name. He still insists to this day that the 2-iron was the right club. We keep insisting that he is wrong.
‘I am the champion.’ Seve Ballesteros