The Shot That Jack Hit

[Veefore]

I just put this up on another forum and thought the Ozgolfers might be interested.
The thread drifted around to being about great ball strikers, past and present.

It was quite an interesting discussion with many who have been going to tournaments for 40+ years giving their opinions of the players they have watched. Including Nicklaus, Hogan and the man that Hogan called the best ball striker he ever saw Lee Trevino.


A couple of snippets stolen from the discussion:

"I dont know that 1 iron story with Nicklaus, but I do know I saw him in his prime a few times, and to this day I have never seen a golf ball that looked like his, it went straight up, you couldnt see it, and it would land about 310 out. This was in 1977.
I also heard what Trevino said when he was asked how far Jack would have hit in his prime with todays gear, Mex said 400 or so anyway. He wasnt kidding."

" That reminds me of another story.........Jack used to come to Chapel Hill when Jackie was a student at UNC and they had a fund raising "tournament" and I went a couple of years and both times walked and talked with Jack..........well the first year he came, they come to a hole that is a short hole, sharp dogleg left that went around some extremely tall pines.......Well Jack says to me......what do you do here? I say well you can lay up straight out with a 3 or 4 iron or you can hook it around the trees and go for the green(I had actually done this in a tourney a week or two earlier) and Jack says:"Well I didn't come here to lay up, and I don't hook the ball" and with that he hits his driver right straight up in the air over the pines and right in front of the green.......I was stunned......A good scratch amatuer might have been able to get a nine or wedge up that quickly, but this Dude just whacks his driver about 250 right straight up in the air........Totally amazing!!"


"But the two most impressive things I seen in all the years I went there was Trevino on 16 hit a shot from the right woods really low over the bunker and stopped it on a dime (have to love balata) with about a 6 iron and some guy yells out just after he it "oh look he shanked it" Trevino just smiled as it locked right down. Rafael Alercon hit a similar shot not all that long ago very similar but his was with a wedge still very impressive. Also in the mid 80's Davis Love III was the longest guy I ever saw to date and he was way longer than everyone. Davis was about 21 at the time it was impressive."





8045

[BrisVegas]

Hard to imagine anyone other than Tiger hitting the kind of shots Jack managed back in his prime. The combination of immense power and pure ball striking is very rare.

Jack is a big advocate of winding back the ball that the pros use. I think he's right. It would force players to adapt and hit different shot shapes.

[Moe Norman]

I've seen heaps of golf live, and no kidding, Peter Lonard is the best striker of the ball I have ever witnessed, and by a large margin.

[TourFit]

I was impressed by Peter O'Malleys' ball striking...and Adam Scotts'. Like Lonard, the three of them struggle in the putting department...which is where it REALLY counts!!!

The Duel In The Sun...Turnberry '77, sums up Jack for me. LONG but wild drive into the edge of the gorse...an improvised shot with restricted stance and backswing that he manages (incredibly) to get onto the green, and then holes the monster putt !!!! Even though Watson had stiffed the 7 iron to a couple of feet by then, at least he made Tom have to hole the knee knocker to win.

[razaar]

The best shot I ever saw was hit by Monty at the 8th Hole during the 3rd round of the US Open at Olympia Fields in 2003. He had pushed his drive into the right rough and advanced the ball only by a couple of metres on his second. His third shot was with a long iron from thick rough that landed 2 ft from the hole and stopped within a ft. I was sitting directly behind the green, the ball was in the air a long time before it fell beside the pin.

Bubba Watson would be a fun player to watch.

[Yossarian]

Aldo told me about adam scott at the vines one year. Bout 210 out and blocked by a massive tree. Just played it right of his front foot, 4 iron. Bang GIR.

[Courty]

Forgive me if I get some of the details wrong, I'm recalling this one from at least 20 years ago.

Greg Normal was playing in some tournament somewhere, and had pushed his drive right. It ended up sitting right in the middle of the cartpath. I don't know if the rules about relief were different back then, or if he just had a better line between the trees, but he chose to play it where it lay on the path. I think it was about a 5 iron and had to be hit through a gap between some pine tree trunks. Of course, he flushed it clean and put it on the green. Don't forget that there were no plastic spikes then, so his metal spikes wouldn't have gripped the concrete too well.

[TourFit]

Erm...Tige's shot on 13 at The Masters this year was pretty speccy...

[Chris32]

Followed Bubba Watson at Royal Adelaide in 2005, his driving was out of this world. I have played RA a few times now (thanks marcel) and I have hit some good tee shots and they were around 60-80m short of where his landed, and they were playing from the champ tees! The noise of the clubface and the angle he launched it was so differant to anyone else. I'd imagine it would be like watching daly in his prime.

My dad tells a story of seeing Nicklaus at Kooyonga on the range and hitting driver into the school at the end of the range and no one else could come close.

Agree with Moe, Lonard is very impressive to watch, I always try and get to the par 3 tee's to hear the ball of his club - very pure!

[razaar]

Peter Wardrop told me a story about his one and only game with big Jack. On the par-4's his drive and Jack's were almost the same distance. On the par-5's Jack's drives were 50 to 60 yards longer. Wardrop's drives averaged 260-70 yards with persimmon.

[Marto65]

I hope Lonard comes back from his injury and surgery ok ... he's great to watch when he's on.

[mike]

This is the best shot ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1I55z-x6zc)

[mike]

I've seen heaps of golf live, and no kidding, Peter Lonard is the best striker of the ball I have ever witnessed, and by a large margin.If this is the case why does he suck so bad?

[Marto65]

If this is the case why does he suck so bad?

Problems with many things ... including his eyes as a result of the Ross River Fever ..

A PGA Tour Winner .... a multiple time winner on the Aus Tour ... and he sucks? ...

[Daves]

This is the best shot ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1I55z-x6zc)

Nick O'Hern sunk an even better shot than that, perhaps was even the same hole!? Will see if I can find a clip of the shot?

[Daves]

No luck so far on the O'Hern clip, but this clip has Jack's 1972 1 iron shot plus a few other pretty specials ones!;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnW3jlyAzkM&feature=related

[razaar]

Brian Watts bunker shot on the 72nd hole of the '98 British Open to get into a play-off with Mark O'Meara. A downhill lie at the back of the bunker with hardly any green to work with and he knocks it stiff.
http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1822542,00.html (I love the part about the medicine ball)

[markTHEblake]

This is the best shot ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1I55z-x6zc)

The ball rolls down that slope towards the hole, we have seen that hundreds of times. I don't see anything special about chipping it to the right spot and let the slope do the rest. Yes it's a great shot but I dont rate it in the same class as the ones in that other video.

[Dcanto]

I'm not sure of the exact year but one shot that has always stood out in my mind is Tiger's shot on the 18th hole when he won the Canadian Open. 6 iron out of a fairway bunker over water to a flag tucked in the back right corner of the green and he stiffs it to about 4 foot. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

[mike]

A PGA Tour Winner .... a multiple time winner on the Aus Tour ... and he sucks? ...Yep.





The ball rolls down that slope towards the hole, we have seen that hundreds of times. I don't see anything special about chipping it to the right spot and let the slope do the rest. Yes it's a great shot but I dont rate it in the same class as the ones in that other video.You're kidding right?
That shot of Tiger's showed ingenuity, guts and talent. He had to chip to the exact spot with the exact amount of spin. The other shots on that video were either hit 'n' hope shots or a flukey 1 iron.

Face it Mark, I know more about golf than you do.

[Jarro]

This is the best shot ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1I55z-x6zc)

No, this is


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dqDCOKptZk

[sms316]

I think Virge might have posted this one before, but it is worth reliving.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZFG3_o27Uk

And then....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NuE4i7dZEI

Followed by....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0R_qlPoIs&feature=related

[macjackass]

The ball rolls down that slope towards the hole, we have seen that hundreds of times. I don't see anything special about chipping it to the right spot and let the slope do the rest. Yes it's a great shot but I dont rate it in the same class as the ones in that other video.

Exactly.

[Veefore]

I'm not sure of the exact year but one shot that has always stood out in my mind is Tiger's shot on the 18th hole when he won the Canadian Open. 6 iron out of a fairway bunker over water to a flag tucked in the back right corner of the green and he stiffs it to about 4 foot. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

That has to be Tigers best shot. The chip in on the 16th at Augusta was very good, especially considering the timing, but has been made by so many players over the years that it isn't even close to unique.


Three from me:

1. Greg Norman in the right fairway bunker on the 10th of the Vines composite course. He flushed a 4 iron to just in front of the creek and when I looked down for a divot all I could see was a small area of sand that was smooth with a tiny little teardrop shaped dip in it where the ball had been sitting in the sand and had risen up as it moved forward. It was the first time I had been to a pro tournament and I was just amazed.

2. Angel Cabrera. The 8th hole of the wildflower nine at the Vines has a tree in the middle of the fairway and bunkers running from it to the right edge. The hole also doglegs to the right there. I have seen players take on the bunkers from the front tees but never from the back. During the final round of the JW Classic a few years ago I fully expected him to have a go at it. Instead he took 3 wood and hit this low burner down the left side of the tree that barely got 10ft off the ground. The ball travelled straight as an arrow until it was past the tree then it took a hard right turn and finished on the left side of the fairway. I thought he had topped it and said so to my mate only seconds after the hit. Cabrera must have heard me because he watched his ball to the finish then looked around at me and smiled. I just smiled back and gave him a clap.

3. Greg Norman again at the JW Classic. I followed him for a few holes and his ball striking was far superior to his playing partners. The third hole on the composite course is a long par 5 with a bit of a dogleg right off the tee and a tree blocking the best line. Westwood is buried under the rough on the left off the tee and Villegas is down the right side. Norman is in the middle of the fairway about 20m past them both. Villegas hits a low burner layup short of the cross bunkers and Westwood chips out and lays up. Norman pulls 3 wood and SMASHES it straight as an arrow right into the middle of the green.

[markTHEblake]

You're kidding right? No, since when do i ever kid anyway.

That shot of Tiger's showed ingenuity, guts and talent.
Everyone who finished in the same spot would have played it the same way, I wouldnt think it would take any ingenuity at all, as its the only way to play it from there. The ball rolls down that hill towards the hole all day every day (well every day that is a Sunday at the masters). It was a fluke that it went in, though I do admit that Tiger flukes a lot of shots like that.

Sandy Lyles approach to the 18th when he won the Masters should have been in that Top ten, how did that miss out? That is one of the best that I recall ever seeing (in a Major)


Face it Mark, I know more about golf than you do.
So does everyone else.