LPGA: Ten 2015 Hot Shots

In the end, it’s the mental game that gives the edge in competition.

Gerina Piller’s up and down on the 18th in her singles match against Caroline Masson on Sunday at the Solheim Cup wins my vote for the greatest golf moment in 2015.

Piller’s short little chip out of the deep greenside rough was no easy feat and underscores again the critical importance of the approach.  Piller probably got a little more roll than she would have liked, but the conditions were horrible.  Getting any loft out of thick stuff like she faced is practically impossible and the balance between enough power to free the ball and speed control once it’s out is thin and delicate.

Then there was the putt. It really wasn’t a difficult putt in the technical sense.  No tricky breaks in the green. Distance not particularly long. But that’s not always what makes the final stroke of the ball hard in golf. It’s the potential payoff; and once Masson missed her putt Piller knew what was riding on that putt. It wasn’t just her singles match.

And so Gerina Piller overrode the overwhelming hopes of a team and a riveted grandstand and a viewing audience half a world away with a steady, confident stroke that sent the ball rolling on line and true.  That putt was the triumph of golf’s mental game.

Next: Wrapping Up the Women's Golf 2015 Season

These ten single shots help me remember than in a year of such extraordinary accomplishments and high drama golf is, in the end, a game that’s played one shot at a time and all of us, up and down the leaderboard, are capable of achieving moments of excellence and perfection.