Best of the Decade: The Best Golf Shots of the 2010’s
By Bill Felber
As we come to the end of the decade, it’s time to take a look back at some of the best golf shots the 2010s had to offer, and recall the most memorable golf shots of the past ten years.
Some shots just stick in our minds. Some are horrible and cringeworthy. That’s not why we are here today though. We are here today to go over the best golf shots of the past decade.
Like Tiger Woods’ chip-in at the 16th at Augusta in 2005, Tom Watson’s chip from the rough at 17 at Pebble Beach, or Ben Hogan’s 1-iron at Merion in 1950, the combination of their importance plus their sheer implausibility cements those shots in our consciousness.
The decade of the 2010s produced several such shots, moments we are unlikely to soon forget.
The factors that go into the production of a legendary shot are many. But the setting is probably first among them.
Would we remember Woods’ hole-hanging chip or Watson’s hack if it had been struck early in a normal tour event rather than at the climactic moment of a major? Perhaps, but certainly not as much.
The difficulty is a second decisive element. We recall memorable 1-irons, whether struck by Hogan or clanked by Jack Nicklaus off the pin at Pebble’s 17th, in part precisely because it was a 1-iron. And we know what Lee Trevino remarked about the challenges involved in hitting a 1-iron.
A final factor involves what might be termed the abstract elements…water, sand, desert terrain, or trees. During the just-concluded decade, each of those obstacles played a major role in the memorability of at least one shot of great note.
Applying those criteria, here’s a look back at 10 of the most memorable shots of the past decade. Each was struck at a critical moment, generally of a big-time event, and generally – although not always – by a player who used that shot as a springboard to victory.
And on the few occasions where the shot’s creator didn’t actually win the event, there are still good reasons for the shot’s inclusion on this list…as anybody who’s ever attempted to hit a ball out of a minefield of jumping cholla can easily understand.