The 20 Best Shots of 2012

The PGA Tour have just released their top 10 shots of 2012 and we recently asked this question in our 2012 Golfshake awards.  Here Nick picks out his 20 best shots of the 2012 golf season.

The PGA went for - 1: Bubba Watson, 2: Tiger Woods, 3: Justin Rose, 4: Louis Oosthuizen, 5: Zach Johnson, 6: Ernie Els, 7: Luke Donald, 8: Brandt Snedecker, 9: Rickie Fowler, 10: Phil Mickleson

20 Best Shots of 2012

Justin Rose – Sunday singles, 17^th hole putt – Ryder Cup

Justin Rose doesn’t have a reputation as a great putter, and isn’t renowned for being the best under pressure, but he dispelled those two theories in one fell swoop on the 17^th green in his singles match against Phil Mickelson. With European success hanging in the balance, he holed a 35-footer across Medinah’s 17^th green and went on to win his match. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzywrGTO4qk

Tiger Woods – 16^th hole chip - The Memorial Tournament

Tiger Woods was one behind standing on the 16^th tee at Muirfield Village, and his chances of victory diminished even more when his tee shot settled down in the greenside rough. With a downhill chip towards water, the 14-time major champion bravely opened the club face, landed his ball on a sixpence and unleashed a trademark fist pump after watching it drop into the hole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwhZtOV1KCk

Zach Johnson – play-off bunker shot – John Deere Classic

Zach Johnson was tied for the lead with Troy Matteson after 72 holes at TPC Deere Run. Both players found water en route to double bogeys on the first play-off hole, and things didn’t look good for Johnson second time around after he found the same fairway bunker off the tee. He made a great contact, however, and his ball pitched on the green, kicked slightly left and rolled to within ten inches of the hole to set up victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8Uaw8jfsU

Bubba  Watson – play-off pitch  - The Masters

Watson and Louis Oosthuizen parred the first play-off hole (18), but hit wild tee shots off the 10^th tee. Oosthuizen’s ball got a fortuitous ricochet and dropped outside the tree line, but Watson enjoyed no such luck. No matter. From the middle of the trees, he bent a wedge nearly 90 degrees to find the green and two-putted for victory.  

Webb Simpson – 72^nd hole chip – US Open

At San Francisco’s hellish Olympic Club, Simpson moved through the field on the final day with a brilliant run around the turn. He then consolidated, and stood on the 18^th tee knowing a par would probably be enough for victory. He pushed his second, though, leaving a slick downhill chip onto a lightning fast green. He played it to perfection and tapped in for par, sealing a one-shot victory over Graeme McDowell. 

Ian Poulter – Saturday four balls, 18^th hole putt – Ryder Cup

All of Europe knew the importance of Ian Poulter’s birdie putt on the 18^th in the Saturday four balls. Having reeled off four consecutive birdies from the 14th, he holed his 15-footer on the 18th to give his onlooking team mates some hope. If he’d missed, I don’t think Europe would have had sufficient momentum to stage a comeback of such magnitude.

Kyle Stanley – 16^th hole chip – WM Phoenix Open

Starting the final round of the Phoenix Open seven-shots adrift, Stanley tore through the field. His charge seemed to have been halted after his drive on 16 found a cactus bush, but he wrapped the club face round the ball and forced it onto the green to save par. With 54-hole leader Spencer Levin collapsing, Stanley took the title. Seven days previously, he was in tears after losing a three-shot 71-hole lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Phil Mickelson – 72^nd hole putt – Northern Trust Open

Bill Haas owned the clubhouse lead, with Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson – playing in the last group – needing to birdie the hardest hole on the course, the 18^th, to force a play-off. Mickelson found the green with his approach, but some 26 feet from the flag. On tour in 2012, Mickelson made only 8.6 percent of putts of 25 feet or more, but this time he made it count.

Rickie Fowler – play-off approach – Wells Fargo Championship

Fowler shot a 69 on Sunday to force his way into a play-off with D.A. Points and world number one Rory McIlroy. Fowler wasn’t overawed by the company or the immense pressure, and knocked his approach to five feet on the first play-off hole before knocking in the ensuing putt. His second professional victory could prove to be the catalyst for greatness.

Louis Oosthuizen – albatross – The Masters

During the final round of The Masters, Louis Oosthuizen was in contention to win his first green jacket. With a five iron from the middle of the second fairway, he landed his ball on the front of the green, watched it disappear behind the bunker and listened to the crowd erupt as his ball fell into the bottom of the cup, propelling him into the lead.

Gary Boyd – albatross – Italian Open

One bright moment in a poor season for Boyd was his final-round 63 at the BMW Italian Open, which included the rarest of all the birds. He charged through the field with a blistering first seven holes before holing out from the fairway on the par-5 eighth to elevate himself into contention. He would ultimately finish in a tie for fifth, his best result of the season.

Richie Ramsay – 14^th hole pitch – Omega European Masters

Scotland’s Richie Ramsay pulled off one of the best shots of his career at one of the most iconic tournaments on the European Tour schedule. Leading going into the final round, Ramsay played some solid golf to extend his lead on the front nine. On the par-5 14^th, he laid up in two, and played a perfect pitch, which landed inches past the hole and spun back into the cup. He went on to win by four shots.

Peter Hanson – 72^nd hole chip – BMW Masters

Peter Hanson found himself battling Rory McIlroy at the BMW Masters, two weeks after his Ryder Cup neglect. He was two in front, but his ball plugged in the face of a bunker beside the 18^th green with McIlroy in close. Refused a drop, he played a great shot to 10 feet, and five minutes later, he’d secured the biggest title of his career.

Luke Donald – Saturday four balls, 17^th hole tee shot - Ryder Cup

Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia simply had to win their match against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in the Saturday four balls. With Woods some five feet away, Donald fired a seven iron straight at the pin and knocked in the resulting two-footer to give Europe continued hope.

Paul Lawrie – Sunday singles, 6^th hole chip-in – Ryder Cup

Paul Lawrie hadn’t won a point in two attempts at the Ryder Cup, and looked like losing the sixth hole to Brandt Snedeker after airmailing the green. He executed the perfect chip, though, and went one up after it fell into the right hand side of the hole. A hugely significant moment in the context of the Ryder Cup.

Martin Kaymer – 18^th hole putt – Ryder Cup

Needing to two-putt to retain the Ryder Cup, Martin Kaymer idiotically raced his first putt six feet past. Facing all the pressure in the world, with Francesco Molinari in trouble behind, Kaymer hit the purest putt of his life and embraced Sergio Garcia after watching in disappear right in the middle of the hole.

Nicolas Colsaerts – Friday four balls, 17^th hole putt – Ryder Cup

Even though it was still Friday, the significance of Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood’s four ball match against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker was apparent to everyone watching. On the par-3 17^th, with Europe 1 up, Woods hit his tee shot to four feet. The match seemed destined to return to all square, but the Belgian Bomber holed from 25 feet, an eighth birdie (alongside an eagle) of his first ever Ryder Cup outing.

Miguel Angel Jimenez - 9^th hole approach - Hong Kong

Miguel Angel Jimenez became the European Tour’s oldest winner at the UBS Hong Kong Open, and his 5-wood at the par-4 9^th was pivotal to his success. With 220 yards remaining, he hit an approach that never left the pin, setting up a tap-in birdie on one of the hardest holes on the course. 

Danny Willett – 72^nd hole approach - BMW International Open

Danny Willett needed to make par on the stroke index one 18^th hole at the BMW International Open. Hindered by a tree and with a large lake fronting the green, he bent a three iron and chased it up onto the putting surface. He would make par, and defeat Australian Marcus Fraser in the ensuing play-off for his first European Tour title.