On the Fringe: The shots that defined the majors
One putt gave Bubba Watson a rare sense of calm. One swing reminded Martin Kaymer he finally had all the shots. One pitch proved to Rory McIlroy he could master links golf.
These were not the defining shots from the majors this year.
But they meant something special to the winners, and they were tied to lessons from the past.
Asked to choose the signature shot of his Masters victory and a shot that was particularly pleasing to him, Watson found both on the same hole and the same day – Sunday on the par-5 13th at Augusta National.
With a two-shot lead and six holes to play, he hit driver so outrageously bold and long that it sailed down the left side of the fairway, over the trees and disappeared for a nervous moment until plopping down in the fairway.
With nothing more than a sand wedge to the green, Watson hit it to 20 feet and then left his eagle attempt 6 feet short. That’s when he leaned on his experience from winning his first green jacket, knowing he couldn’t leave the putt short and sinking a birdie.
“Making that putt was a key moment for me – for my confidence, calmness, everything,” Watson said.
Picking out a signature shot for Kaymer isn’t easy in an eight-shot victory at Pinehurst No. 2. He settled on the par-5 fifth hole Saturday, where he hit 7-iron from a sandy area to an elevated green, the ball stopping 5 feet away for eagle.
But the most satisfying moment was on the fourth hole on Friday. The German had spent two years retooling his swing to become a complete player, not just the guy who hits a fade. He was in the fairway, stuck between clubs. Kaymer felt the shot called for a draw.“I started it at the right edge of the green,” Kaymer said. “The rhythm was good. It was a crisp hit. … For me, it was the best shot I hit all week.”
McIlroy might have won the British Open on Saturday when he made two eagles on the last three holes to stretch his lead.
In his eyes, the claret jug wasn’t his until he drilled a driver on the par-5 16th hole Sunday to set up a two-putt birdie and take a three-shot lead.
But it was the next hole – a par – that he found particularly pleasing.
“My pitch over the bunker on the 17th hole on Sunday was extremely difficult and demanded a lot of feel and control,” he said. “It was a true links shot I had to make – pick a spot, get the pace right and let it run out to the hole.”
It was close to perfect.
The PGA Championship was the most exciting major. Four players had a share of the lead on the back nine. The shot that ultimately won McIlroy a second straight major was his 9-iron out of a fairway bunker to 10 feet for birdie on No. 17 for a two-shot lead with one hole to play.
In his eyes, how he started the back nine Sunday was as important as how he finished.
Trailing by three shots, he hit 3-wood from 281 yards to 7 feet for eagle on the par-5 10th that got him back in the game. It wasn’t the purest shot McIlroy hit at Valhalla, but he found a small measure of redemption.