Perhaps the most iconic shot of Tiger Woods’ career came during the last round of the 2005 Masters when he found himself out of position on the 16th hole.
Tiger Woods faced a daunting chip, knowing that a bogey would almost certainly open the door for Chris DiMarco.
Woods had spent the front nine at least three shots clear of his countryman. But there was only one shot between them as they teed off on 16, so it seemed pivotal when DiMarco hit the middle of the green while Woods went wayward.
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What followed was one of the greatest shots in Masters history, with Woods judging the chip to sublime perfection. Sensing the occasion, the ball waited on the lip of the hole until it had briefly brought the entire golfing world to a standstill, before sending the patrons into a frenzy with its final rotation into the bottom of the cup.
How Seve Ballesteros completely changed how Tiger Woods thought about chipping
Woods could be as masterful as anyone around the greens. But it turns out that he had some of the best teachers golf has ever seen when it came to the short game.
Woods has made no secret of his admiration for Seve Ballesteros’ creativity and imagination. It seems that it took the 49-year-old some time to get his head around how the Spaniard approached short game shots.
Speaking in a video with Collin Morikawa for TaylorMade, Woods explained how he is always trying to shape the ball on chip shots, no matter what he is faced with.
And he went on to explain how Ballesteros completely changed his thinking about that area of the game.
Morikawa said: “That’s so interesting. How many guys have you ever met are trying to move right to left or left to right, not necessarily moving it, but the thought of it? Because people talk about, ‘I want to draw it’, you hear that all the time, ‘I’m trying to draw it’, but in reality they’re probably playing a straight shot. Have you met many guys that try [and actually move it]?”
“Seve, Ollie [Jose Maria Olazabal]. They were always trying to do something with it,” Woods replied.
“Seve was always trying to teach me how to make the ball roll straight every single time. And then he would choose to make it roll right or left, but the ball should roll every time like a putt, no matter what shot you’re hitting, no matter how high you’re hitting it, which kind of freaked me out in my head.”
The chip Tiger Woods hit that Jack Nicklaus said was the gutsiest shot he had ever seen
Woods’ highlight reel is perhaps the most impressive the game has ever seen. He had an incredible ability to successfully pull off the only shot he could possibly hit at that stage of a tournament.
As well as the remarkable moment at Augusta National 20 years ago, Woods produced one of the best shots of his career at the Memorial Tournament in 2012.
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The flop shot he holed from the back of the 16th green – yes, the 16th on Sunday once again – helped set the stage for Woods to win the event for a fifth time.
Jack Nicklaus labelled it ‘the most unbelievable, gutsy shot I’ve ever seen’. And it was particularly significant as it helped ensure that Woods moved alongside the Golden Bear for 73 PGA Tour victories.
It should be no surprise that Woods so often stepped up in the biggest moments when he had the likes of Ballesteros and Olazabal passing on their wisdom.
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