Seven years later at Hazeltine, the bunker shot from heaven
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Tiger Woods has called it the best shot of his career. It happened seven years ago at Hazeltine National (Minn.), site of this week’s PGA Championship.
Playing the 18th hole in the second round of the 2002 PGA, early on a Saturday morning, Woods hooked his tee shot into a bunker on the left side of the fairway. Crouching 202 yards from the hole, trees between him and the green, Woods hoists a 3-iron over the trees and straight over the flagstick. The ball stops 15 feet past the pin. Woods makes the putt, turning a bogey into a birdie on his way to a runner-up finish to Rich Beem.
“That was the best shot I’ve hit, yes,” said Woods. “The wind was coming 20 [mph] off the left. The ball is below my feet, but I had to get it above the lip, above the trees, and hook it with a 3-iron. It’s not exactly an easy shot.”
It was not as dramatic as his lip-hanging chip in the 2005 Masters, not as clutch as his fairway bunker 5-iron over water to clinch the 2000 Canadian Open, not as memorable as his 30-foot, run-and-point birdie putt in the 2000 PGA playoff with Bob May, or as replayed as his bouncing, 15-footer on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open to tie Rocco Mediate.
But for sheer skill and difficulty, it was Woods’ most incredible feat. Few players would have even attempted it, the potential risk overwhelming the potential reward.
Ernie Els, playing with Woods that day, called it the best shot he’s ever seen.
“When I hit it, it was probably the most pure shot I’ve ever hit,” said Woods. “It just felt like nothing, like when guys describe a home run, how easy it felt even though it went 460 feet. It just felt effortless.”
The legend of the shot has grown to outrageous proportions. Monday, during a news conference for the 2009 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, D.A. Weibring recalled the shot was “278 yards out. I can’t even fantasize about that.”
But Tiger can fantasize about such things.
His creativity was sparked as a youth. Woods has often talked about times with his late father, Earl Woods, Jr., on empty courses late in the evening. His father would challenge him to play ridiculous shots to greens across two fairways, testing the limits of his skill.
