Best of the Decade: The Best Golf Shots of the 2010’s
By Bill Felber
5. Sergio Garcia, 15th hole, Augusta National, 2017 Masters
Garcia came to the 15th hole on Sunday’s final round trailing Justin Rose by a single shot and playing alongside him. Garcia striped his drive a full 40 yards farther than Rose, and after Rose pulled his second onto the left fringe, Sergio went into attack mode.
His eight-iron approach nearly flew into the cup for a deuce, caroming off the flagstick and eventually coming to rest 15 feet from the flag.
After Rose rolled his approach within three feet for an eventual birdie, Garcia let his eagle putt die into the cup for a tying eagle three.
Rose recovered to birdie the 16th but bogeyed 17, and when both players tied the concluding hole their showdown went into a playoff. Hitting first, Rose clipped the trees protecting the right side and his ball fell onto pine straw, his approach partially blocked by the trees.
Garcia carved his drive safely in the fairway. After Rose tried to punch an approach that stopped only a few yards beyond Garcia’s drive, Sergio dropped a 156-yard approach eight feet from the flag. Rose recorded a bogey, but that didn’t matter when Garcia rolled home his birdie putt for the first major title of his two-decade long career.