THE PROS
shots in the history of this major.
•••
2005 masters. This is the defini-
tive Woods shot. Nike could have
not filmed it better had it been a
commercial. Facing a pitch from be-
hind the 16th green and 50 feet from
the cup, Woods chipped the ball to-
ward a slope 25 feet to the left of the
hole. The ball rolled, trickled and
seemed to sputter before stopping
on the lip of the cup. It appeared to
freeze for an instant, the Nike logo
almost taunting Woods, but then,
seemingly defying the laws of
physics, it gently plopped into the
cup, giving him a birdie en route to
a playoff victory.
•••
2007 masters. Woods turned what
could have been into a disaster into
a miracle with this shot on the 11th
hole. Rather than playing it safe and
laterally punching out his ball,
which rested in crushed bark behind
a tree, he went for it, snapping his 4
iron in the process. The ball some-
how made it down the fairway and
Woods made a par on the hole.
•••
2008 u.s. open. The last two
Woods shots on this list are bitter-
sweet. This one is sweet because
Woods made a 15-foot birdie putt
on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines to
force a playoff with Rocco Mediate.
But he was playing with two stress
fractures and a torn ACL in his leg.
And it's also bitter, because some be-
lieve Woods' future physical prob-
lems may have been greatly
compounded by his refusing to
yield to his body's limitations en
route to winning this championship,
which he claimed on the 19th hole
of a Monday playoff.
•••
2009 arnold palmer
invitational. Woods sank another
15-foot putt, again a birdie on the
72nd hole, giving him his first vic-
tory since returning from the knee
surgery that disabled him for the
second half of 2008. By the end of
2009, he was the talk of the Tabloid
Universe, and though he posted
eight wins in 2012 and 2013, the
days of dominance were long gone.
