2014 Golf: Pro Golf Now Five Greatest Shots Of The Year

Aug 8, 2013; Rochester, NY, USA; A view of the Wannamaker Trophy during the first round of the 95th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

I watched, with interest this morning as the Morning Drive cast at the Golf Channel showed the greatest shots of the 2014 golf season. I’m not sure what criteria they used to decide and rate these shots, so I decided to create a Pro Golf Now list of greatest shots. For these shots to make it at Pro Golf Now, I decided that number one, I had to see them as they happened, and number two, they needed to be a shot that had been made under pressure.

I only used shots that were made in the final round of a tournament, and had been involved in either a win or loss of that tournament.

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I also did not include great putts in this list, even if they were for a huge win like Paula Creamer’s putt at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore, or Billy Horschel’s big putt at East Lake during the Tour Championship to save par.

Number 5 Rickie Fowler PGA Championship

The final round of the 2014 PGA Championship was one of the most exciting tournaments of the year, and it was sad that it had to end on a little bit of a sour note with the weather and darkness settling in. I think the officials did what they needed to do, to get the tournament finished. It would never had been the same if it had went to a Monday morning finish.

Sep 11, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Rickie Fowler motions to the crowd after finishing the first round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It was also one of the best performances I had ever seen from the 26 year-old rising star. I know he finished top ten in all of the 2014 major championships, but with Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, and Fowler all in the mix coming down the stretch, this one was special.

Rickie had driven his tee-shot on 16 so far right that he was in the adjacent fairway at Valhalla, with no shot at the green. I’m still not sure how he got the ball on the green, but he did, and it was classic.

Number 4 Henrik Stenson DP World Tour Championship, Dubai

Jun 14, 2014; Pinehurst, NC, USA; Henrik Stenson lines up his putt on the 16th hole during the third round of the 2014 U.S. Open golf tournament at Pinehurst Resort Country Club – #2 Course. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

After the success Henrik Stenson enjoyed in 2013 by winning both, the FedEx Cup Championship, and the Race To Dubai Championship which included a win at the 2013 DP World Tour Championship, the 39 year-old Swede went win-less in 2014 until he got back to Dubai.

Not only did Stenson become the first to ever win the playoff championships on both tours, in 2014, he became the only player in history to successfully defend a title at the European Tour finale in Dubai.

Stenson lost the lead to Spaniard, Raphael Cabrera-Bello when his tee-shot on 11 went out-of-bounds, but came to the par three 17th needing birdie. With a difficult pin, and a very fast green, Stenson hit a beautiful six-iron that stopped at 3 feet. The rest is history.

Number 3 Rory McIlroy Honda Classic

When dissecting this shot, we need to remember that after a horrible 2013 season that saw Rory fall from grace, he was trying to learn how to win again. With his only win in 2013 coming at the Australian Open, a few months earlier, he was leading for the first time on the PGA Tour at a place where only a year before, he had invented a toothache, and walked off the course on Friday afternoon.

McIlroy saw his lead disappear when he hit his approach shot into the water from a fairway bunker on the 16th hole. He came to 18th hole, needing eagle to win the tournament, and birdie to make the impending playoff.

Rory hit one of the greatest shots I had ever seen!

A sucker pin on the peninsula 18th green, water on the right, 245 yards, and he hit a perfect shot. He hit it long, he hit i high, and it stopped 12 feet from the hole.

Of course, Rory missed the eagle and lost in the playoff to Russell Henley. If he had made the putt for eagle, and the win, this would be my number one shot of the year!

Number 2 Victor Dubuisson WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

I know everyone reading this blog has seen the two miracle shots at Dove Mountain during a playoff with eventual winner, Jason Day, but those shots needed to be on this list.

Even Day was impressed, and was shaking his head as the 23 year-old Frenchman continued to hit from the cacti to keep the playoff going.

I took particular pride in Dubuisson’s performance because after his win at the 2013 Turkish Airlines Open, I had watched him during the spring, and had written in a few blogs that American golf fans needed to keep an eye on this youngster when he got to the PGA Tour as he was something special.

Number 1 Rory McIlroy PGA Championship

As you probably remember, the attention during the broadcast had shifted from Rory McIlroy to others making a move at Valhalla during the final round. Rory wasn’t making mistakes, in fact he wasn’t making anything. Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, and Henrik Stenson were all making birdies, and getting the attention.

Sep 27, 2014; Auchterarder, Perthshire, SCT; European golfer Rory McIlroy looks on during day two of the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles Resort – PGA Centenary Course. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

When Rory hit the second shot to the 10th green, a hole that he had trouble with all week, all I could say, was OMG! When the shot landed 10 feet from the hole, and he made the eagle putt, I knew Rory was back, and more importantly, Rory knew he was back.

Rory’s drive on the 16th hole was phenomenal as well, but after wining the Open Championship, and the Bridgestone, I think he was running out of gas. The shot at the tenth hole was, in my opinion, the best shot of the year.

The Golf Shot That Didn’t Happen

As the storm was coming in and daylight running out on the final round of PGA Championship, there was chaos at the 18th hole. Phil and Rickie were trying to finish and Rory was hitting his approach shot before the daylight ran out. Phil nearly chipped in from the trap, and it gone in the hole, there might well have been a different ending at Valhalla, and a different greatest shot of the 2014 season.

Next: The Morning Chip Shot?

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