PART ONE
TOMMY: Welcome to Tommy Does Golf, the podcast where three old timers give you our opinions on everything golf. I'm Tommy Long, joined by fellow PGA professionals James Morgan and Paul Charman. With over 100 years and counting in the golf industry between us, we are well into our back nines. We'll do our best to stay on topic, but just like our tee shots these days, this podcast could go anywhere.
We're hoping you enjoy the banter and maybe, just maybe, we'll share a few pearls of wisdom along the way. Let's get into it
Nine shots, five decades, three categories. You've seen these clips 100 times, but have you ever judged them? We've gone back and watched nine of the most iconic shots ever caught on camera, but this time we've scored all of them out of 10 in three categories; difficulty, importance, and pressure. From Pebble Beach to Augusta, from Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods, we've got the lot.
Nine shots, three self-appointed experts, and a maximum of 30 points per shot. We'll reveal our scores as we go, and at the end of part two, with the help of a calculator, we'll average out our totals to crown a winner.
We haven't conferred on this whatsoever, so I'm really intrigued to find out just how generous or harsh the boys have been with their scoring. Which golf shot's going to end up as our most iconic of all time? There's only one way to find out, to get stuck into part one.Fellas, it's time to find out each other's ratings. James, you're first up. Where do you want to start?
JAMES: I'm gonna start with Tiger Woods and the putt called better than most. So I'm gonna set the scene. It's the 17th hole at T.P. Sawgrass, which is an island green, which a lot of you will all know. And it's not a really long hole. It's about 130, 120 yards long. Obviously, it's the water all round the green that makes it quite tricky, but also it's a very undulating green, sloping from front to back, and the back portion slopes from left to right.So the greens at Sawgrass are always like lightning So it's the third round. Tiger Woods is three shots back, And the commentators actually said he's got a nine iron, which they thought was too much club for him, and it looked like he was just trying to hit a little smooth one.Now, the flag was on the front portion of the green, which you've seen hole in ones where people have sucked the ball back down the green, but they've also sucked it off the green with too much backspin. So anyway, he's hit his soft nine iron, and it pitches on the back edge of the green and just comes to rest just off the green, but not in the water.But now he has a sixty-foot putt downhill with a triple breaker, which means it's gonna break right to left, left to right, and then straighten at the end. Now, one of the golfers in the group in front who had a eight-foot putt from the middle edge, rolled it down, missed the hole on the right, and it's gone off the green. So now they're commenting on the difficulty for Tiger. The intensity in his eyes as he's standing there looking at the putt. So this is all building up for him, and he's got Steve Williams on his bag attending the flag in those days, and that actually gave him a start point. So where Stevie Williams was holding the flag and where his feet were is where he actually aimed the ball to start with.You go through the marking system here. Difficulty, definitely a ten. If it doesn't go in the hole, it's running six, ten feet, maybe off the green. Won't reach the water 'cause the rough that year was thick enough to stop it from going into the water. So from a difficulty point of view, it was really difficult.Importance, it was only a third round, so if he did three-putt, make a bogey, he still was in the tournament, but it certainly helped catapult him forwards. As far as pressure was concerned, I don't think Tiger really felt pressure. He saw the challenge. So I've only given that a six. So what happened? Well, he's hit this putt, and soon as he's hit it, he started it on a line that the commentators, And it's Gary Koch, who has become a, an amazing commentator, but he is renowned for this phrase, and he said right as he hit it, "That's better than most."
And then the putt is three-quarters of the way down, and he goes, "That's better than most." And you can see it starting to turn towards the hole, and you hear Johnny Miller goes, "That could go in." And just as it goes in the hole, Gary Koch gives it, "That's better than most." And the crowd... And it's a stadium course, so they've built up all these massive banks around.
And the roar, the commentator who was in the box on the eighteenth green said he could hear the roar through the booth Which is one of those Tiger roars
TOMMY: Wow.
JAMES: So it's just one of those putts. You watch it, and then, of course, he's then giving it the big fist pump. Stevie Williams is going berserk. That only puts him two shots back, and then, again, makes one of his iconic runs, because it was 2001 when he was so dominant so my marking is difficulty 10, importance seven, pressure six.
TOMMY: Okay. Paul, I think James has described that beautifully. Absolutely. I mean, have you got anything to offer?
PAUL: The only thing I would like to offer, and you touched on it, was the celebration afterwards, and the only thing that let, for me, the whole thing down, was the missed high-five between Woods- ... and Williams. It was just awkward. It would've been beautiful had they absolutely slapped each other and connected. They missed each other, and it was an awkward moment.
JAMES:Their history is littered with disgustingly terrible high-fives. You'd think they would've practiced.
TOMMY: I can't remember that, and even though I've watched that shot a gazillion times, I'm gonna have to go back and watch it now just for the missed high-five.
JAMES: Your shot you've gotta do later on, they went for the high-five, and they had three goes at it- ... and still couldn't do it.
PAUL: Yeah.
TOMMY: How did you score it?
PAUL: Very similar, I've gone difficulty nine, , importance seven, and pressure seven, and pretty much for the same reasons as, Jimbo.Yeah, third round and all that sort of stuff. So yeah, that's my marking on that.
TOMMY: Okay. I don't really have anything to add. Like I said, I think James explained it beautifully. He has made me feel a little bit guilty though about how I've marked it because James gave it a 10 for difficulty.I gave it an 8 out of 10 for difficulty, which feels a bit harsh. For importance, , it was the third round, still a round to go. I think Tiger would have found a way to win the tournament regardless. He always seemed to do so. So I gave it a 6 out of 10 for that. Pressure, again, like James said, doesn't really feel the pressure. I don't think it really was that pressurized a moment because, , it was in the third round and effectively he had another 19 holes to play. So I gave that a 6 out of 10 as well. So my total out of 30 was 20 out of 30, for that particular shot. So that takes us to Paul. Paul, what shot out of your three is first up?
PAUL: So I'm gonna go with the iconic, car park shot played by Seve Ballesteros. So this shot took place in 1979 at the Open Championship, which was being played at Royal Lytham and St Annes. 16th hole, To give you an idea of what happened he's carved a shot off to the right, which has ended up in the car park. So, when he gets there, the ball is almost underneath a car, and, the Royal and Ancient who are overseeing the event, they've come out, and they've had a look at the situation, and they've agreed that they're going to give him a free drop, quite funny 'cause it had to be dropped in the old-fashioned way, which was over the shoulder. And it's actually ended up in a very, very good position. It's a good lie.It's trampled. It's flat. And to a player like Seve, actually ideal. He hits a really good wedge shot. I wouldn't say it's perfect. He hits a really good wedge shot to the green. Now, interestingly enough, if he had gone any other direction apart from right off the tee, I think he would have been in a worse position.But being where he was on that right-hand side, he was now playing a shot back to the green, a larger portion of the green, and into the wind, and into the wind, and I think that was crucial.And I think even though, a lot of people go, "Oh, well, he should have hit the fairway," the fact is that he's the kind of person that knew anywhere in that area, anywhere over there was actually gonna probably, work out okay. So he's hit a really good wedge shot into the wind, back to the green to about 20 foot from the hole, and he then goes on to drain the putt for a birdie.Now, that putt was significant because that moved him, three shots clear of, Crenshaw and Nicholas, with two holes to play. And considering his age, that in itself adds pressure.But Seve's one of those characters that, he would have probably thrived on that actually more than anything. But one other thing I would actually like to add is that what I really loved about this particular clip that I watched was the fact that- There are three significant people in this clip. One is a policeman, a traditional English bobby, standing there as though he's actually part of the Royal and Ancient Rules Committee. You've got the rules official, and you've got Seve. And the banter between them It's worth watching it even if you don't understand golf, because you've got the Royal and Ancient referee saying, "Well, actually, yes, um, Severiano, you, you are able to take this drop, and you can take this drop, and this is the position."And Seve goes, "Oh, so you want me to drop here? You want me to drop here? Okay, I drop here. No worries at all." And this is banter between these two. And you have to take your hat off to Seve, because his English at that stage in his life was not great.
TOMMY: Primitive.
PAUL: It was very, very basic. But, he ends up, you know, getting what he wants. He gets, some people say, lucky break. Hey, you know what? Make your own luck. But from the point of view of difficulty, I've scored that particular shot that I've just talked about, I've actually... Difficulty, I've actually scored it quite low. I've gone with seven, because He could have put 10 balls down there, and I think 20 foot would've been the furthest he would've put the ball away from the hole. It's Seve Ballesteros. Let's not forget who we're talking about. It's Seve. It wasn't a bad lie. So yeah, so I've maybe gone a little bit low there. Importance, yes, huge. Moved him three shots clear, two holes to play. It's very significant. . I gave him eight for the importance- Okay ... and the significance of that shot. Moved him three shots clear, two holes to play. With regards to the pressure of that shot, yes, again, as we touched on earlier, the fact that you've got Nicklaus and Crenshaw right up there, must have played on his mind.He must have been thinking about that. A young guy. Yeah, so I've given that a nine for pressure.
TOMMY: Okay. So Paulie, you've scored him 24 out of 30 for that shot. Yeah. Yeah. Quite high, really, overall. But anyway, I love the way you described that shot. I'm just gonna go to James quickly, 'cause James might have something to add on it, and we wanna get James' scores. So James, take it away.
JAMES: I think it was the fact that he was so young. Yeah. He was what? 21?
TOMMY: Yes.
JAMES: And that was his style. He was the swashbuckling. Yeah. It was the twirl at the end, the club. That's quite iconic as well. So I've given it, from a difficulty point of view, you know, he was in the rough, and he only had a two-shot lead.He dumps that in the bunker short, he's in all sorts of trouble. So I gave it an eight. Mm-hmm. Importance, it was a nine. Yes. When you hit it that far off line, you then knock it on the green and give yourself a chance for birdie. And then pressure, I gave it an eight. So I actually thought it, you know, if you're that young- Yeah. But again, he was fearless.
TOMMY: Yeah.
JAMES: Uh, so, pressure's a hard one to judge because, he believed he was gonna pull the shot off. So, my total is 25.
It's 25 out of 30.
TOMMY: Still pretty high. So 25 for you ...
JAMES: first major win, you know-
TOMMY: I'm Mr. Meanie because- Look, I, iconic shot will forever be played. Seve, like you've said in another podcast, Paul, Seve will always be associated with that car park shot. But I think the thing for me is that the lie that he ended up getting after he had a free drop, obviously it was trampled down, so it was a great lie. I think the angle that it gave him, like you said, Paul, to a pin that was cut on the left side into the wind, and the fact that he was going with a fairly lofted club, it was quite an easy shot for Seve. I mean, he's absolutely unbelievable golfer, so it wasn't a difficult golf shot. But like you said, James, pressure and the magnitude of the situation, that was big. I only scored it a 4 out of 10. I did, and I'll tell you why I gave it a 4 out 10. Because like you just said, Paul, i think the furthest away he would've hit it was 20 feet. It wasn't a spectacular shot in that sense. I think the spectacular thing about that was that he went on to hole it for the birdie. so the birdie putt made it very, very significant. Importance, I gave it an 8 out of 10.It was his first open win, and it was a crucial moment at that time. The pressure, I gave it 6 out of 10, so I've actually come out with, like, an 18 out of 30. The last thing before you boys pitch in again with another couple of comments slating me, is that I kind of feel like that moment was actually really significant because that was when Seve first announced himself almost as the amateur's champion, in a sense that they play from car parks, they spray the golf ball about, and he went on to win. It wasn't out of bounds, like he knew it wasn't out of bounds. Out of bounds, I think, was on the left-hand side or significant trouble, so he lost it right. He knew what way to lose it off the tee
JAMES: well, they've now made that car park out of bounds purely because of where Seve hit it. All the opens after that.
TOMMY: Is that right?
JAMES: Yeah. It became out of bounds. because there's trouble down the left and just curve it right.
TOMMY: Yeah.
JAMES: So that's one thing, but it's not a full wedge that he's hitting. He's hitting a three-quarter wedge, and in those days, those wedges had sharp leading edges.: Under pressure- Tight lie, 21-year-old. That could have been so easily slightly semi-fat. I mean, he did go on to become an amazing rescue player, and that's what his game was built around, but-
TOMMY: Yeah, well, I, I think it was a, conservative play. It was completely the right play, which shows a good head space at such a young age into the wind. He hasn't gone at the flag.He's hit it right at the flag. He's ended up pin high, and then he's rolled in the putt. Yeah. So happy days. . Totally. But, hey- Yeah ... we're all different. We all feel differently. I think
JAMES: But four i think is a very...
TOMMY: Yeah, I'm horrible.I was having a bad morning, I think.
JAMES: It’s Seve Ballesteros, after all.
TOMMY: I know, and I love Seve as much as anybody. Okay. The first one I am gonna talk about, I'm gonna take you boys back to 2012, the US Masters at Augusta, the playoff between Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.Before I start, I feel as though I should disclose that for that Masters, I'd actually backed Louis to win at 48 to one.So I stood to win just shy of five grand if he'd ended up donning that green jacket that week. So unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy any of the drama that unfolded in that playoff because I was far too invested in the outcome. However, I'm going to do my best to describe what happened without any hard feeling towards Bubba.
Both players made par on 18 in the first playoff hole, so they headed to the 10th, . Camellia, the name given to the 10th hole, consistently ranks as the toughest or second toughest at Augusta. Its all-time scoring average, little bit of information, is 4.3, so pretty high. Plays over par. Good playoff hole. Bubba, having retained the honor, teed off first.
He proceeded to yank his tee shot severely to the right. Deep into the Georgia pines. Louis, he just needed to hit a decent tee shot to pile more pressure on Bubba. But Louis didn't. By Louis' standards, he hit a really poor one. His ball clipped the trees and deflected back towards the fairway, and it eventually came to rest in the semi-rough to the right, about 200 yards out from the green. So it impacted in the trees, took a bit of distance off it, but he was lucky 'cause he wasn't in the trees like Bubba. Bubba's wild tee shot had resulted in his ball coming to rest on top of the pine straw, but deep in the trees to the right of the fairway. He's 155 yards from the green, but the good news, and the only good news as I saw it at that point, was that he had an unimpeded swing.
But the bad news, he had no direct line of sight to the green whatsoever. He can't go under, over, or through the pines. His only option was to play out sideways. When he set up to the ball, his back was pretty much facing towards the right-hand side of the green. But not only was his ball resting on the pine straw, he was standing on it too.The strike off a pine straw if you lose your footing even slightly. It can produce carnage. And you couple that with the fact that Bubba's footwork is more active than most, things weren't looking too favorable at that point I was sure that he was gonna just chip it back to the fairway, especially after having seen Louis' second finish short at the green. Bubba, He pulls out a gap wedge. . But he makes a practice swing which indicates he's going for distance. He's gonna try and get this thing close to the green, if not on it.He's gonna have to hook the absolute living daylights out of his ball though, because if he doesn't get it shaping dramatically left to right really early on in its flight, it's crashing into the trees on the other side of the fairway, and it's game over. Boys, we all know this, it's no secret that maneuvering a golf ball through the air that much in either direction with a lofted club is incredibly difficult to do. So at this point, I still can't believe what I'm watching. Bubba sets up, hooks the club face, de-lofting it, which in effect created extra distance, but more importantly, taking the loft off enhanced his chance of generating more of the insane amount of clockwise hook spin that he required to execute this shot.When I watched the shot back, I was amazed by just how much he was able to roll his wrists through impact. The incredible timing, coupled with that hooded face, enabled him to work the far side of the ball for a few critical extra milliseconds through impact. I can only describe the shot that he produced as mind-blowing.He hit a boomerang hook that moved literally 40 yards to the right during its short 150-yard journey.The ball was still spinning left to right when it pitched on the right half of the green. That vicious spin dragged it even further right on the putting surface that shot was insane. Just insane. Not just the execution, but the fact that he even took it on.When that ball landed on the dance floor, Louis must have felt like going from favorite to outsider. He knew he had to get up and down for par because Bubba was not gonna three-par after doing that.We all know what happened. He didn't get up and down. Bubba two-putted to win his first green jacket and I missed out on just shy of five grand of the bookmaker's money.So here's how I scored that shot.Difficulty, I had to give it a 9 out of 10. I really didn't consider it a possibility, I maybe should have given it more, but I gave it 9 out of 10. Importance, I gave it an 8 out of 10. Louis had missed the green. I think if Louis had put it on, I probably would have scored it higher in importance.And the pressure, I gave it an 8 out of 10.Louis missing the green beforehand, I think it took a bit of pressure off him. so that gives me a total of 25 out of 30 for that shot. Gents, anything to add? Who wants to go first?
JAMES: You're a tight ass when it comes- ... to difficulty, I know that much. I know. Well, I gave it- Jesus ... a 10 and a half out of 10 for difficulty. If you've ever tried to hook a pitching wedge, give it flight, and get the thing to bend 40, 50 yards, it is so hard to do. So I, felt you were being a little bit mean with the difficulty. So I gave that a, a 10 out of 10 for difficulty. As far as the importance was concerned, I gave it a nine. It is the US Masters, it's a playoff.And the pressure, I gave it an eight. Okay. Now, the reason I went down to an eight was because Louis had already missed the green.
TOMMY: Okay.
JAMES: So because his opponent's missed the green, and it's not like you're in the main tournament, and you go for this and then you shank it into the trees on the other side or whatever. He only had one person to beat who wasn't on the green for two. That's why I just gave it an eight as far as the pressure was concerned, 'cause if it comes off, great. If it doesn't, he misses the green short left, and he's got, an up and down opportunity.
TOMMY: Yes.
JAMES: So that gives my total, , is 27.
TOMMY. Okay. All right. Paul, any thoughts on that? What have I missed?
PAUL: Just a couple. You are tight. Okay? The fact that he was playing that shot off pine straw, for a start, that has to add difficulty. Faldo said, with regards to that shot, that Bubba had conjured up magic. And I think- Yeah ... that actually is Faldo again at his best. He's basically summed up what this player has done. He has used his hands, and there are only a few players in the history of the game of golf that have got the ability to manipulate the club face, as you guys have touched on, and move the ball with loft- To a certain target in that shorter distance We can stand on a driving range and hood the club face on a pitching wedge, but it's gonna come out with a low hook spin, and it is not gonna have any control at all. He's actually allowed that ball to hit the green, and it's pitched. Yes, it's moved to the right, but it hasn't spun off the green.It was an amazing shot. Absolutely amazing shot. 9 out of 10.
TOMMY: Okay. Well done. What are your marks?
PAUL: Oh, I beg your pardon. Yes.
JAMES: What are your marks?
PAUL: I've gone 10 for difficulty, 100%, 10. I've gone 8 for importance, and I've gone 8 for pressure.
TOMMY: Okay.
PAUL: I'm a little bit low on pressure only because he's got nothing to lose.
TOMMY: 26 out of 30. 26 out of 30. So right up there. Okay. Just quickly, in my defense... Well, it's not my defense really. I probably was a little bit sour. I probably still am a little bit sour about losing that money. All right. So I've gone hard on him. We know on that shot that he had no direct line of sight to the green. I mean, yes, it was, it was incredible. But to be quite honest with you, when he got that gap wedge out, I still expected him just to chip it out onto the fairway. So yeah, it killed me that. It killed me, and I've probably, difficulty-wise, I've scored it probably too low. But I'm sticking with it. I'm sticking with it. Right. So we've done one shot each. We go back over to James. What shot are you tackling next, James? Over to you.
JAMES: Let me set the scene. It was 1996 at the US Masters. Greg Norman entered the final round with a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo, and as, we all know, Nick Faldo went on to win by five with an amazing round of 67 to Greg Norman's 78.It's really remembered for the collapse of Greg Norman when, in fact, I think it was actually more the great play of Nick Faldo. They put pressure on Norman, and then his collapse was as a result of that. At the start of the week, Nick Faldo was hitting the ball terribly. I've looked up... I actually did do some homework for this, and I looked up some videos.And he was hitting the ball so badly. On the Wednesday, for his last practice round, he went to the 10th, hit a duff drive, went to the 11th, hit a duff drive, and walked in. Had two holes. That's it. Went to the range, hit some balls. His daughter [00:24:00] was three years old at the time, and she was big into the Powerpuff Girls. So his timing was off, so he was actually rushing at it from the top. So what he decided to do was he was gonna think of it like the Powerpuff Girls. Just try and swing smoothly. So he thought of like a soap bubble on the club face for the week. That became his thought for the whole week. Anyway, so we get to the, last round. Faldo noticed on the second tee that Greg Norman was re-gripping the golf club more than normal. It's like 10, 12 times. And he suddenly thought, "He's getting nervous," even though he had quite a big lead at this point. Faldo Needed birdies to try and force the bogeys out of Norman, which were forthcoming.So after 11 holes, they were tied. Faldo teed off first on the 12th, and, that standard pin placement for, the 12th is on the right-hand side. Risk reward, if you go at it, it's a narrow target. Faldo hit it 25 feet left. Norman stuffed the holes up, double bogeys. And now, for the first time, Nick Faldo has a two-shot lead standing on the 13th. The 13th is an iconic par five. It's a true risk reward golf hole. It's a sharp dogleg lift, par five, with a sloping fairway, and a creek running down the left side, and then it goes from the front left of the green to the back right. And there's a bank on the left with a bunker in it, a couple of bunkers, and then azaleas and beautiful flowers, which you can lose your ball in. Nick stepped up first, split the fairway, perfect drive. Norman drove it through the fairway into the rough, and he had to lay up, because he couldn't knock it over the creek. Faldo had just over 200 yards to go. Nowadays, they'd be hitting a seven iron from that distance, but he's got the ball above his feet, and the commentator said, "With his practice swing, that's not a layup practice swing." And Faldo had a two iron out. Now, you don't see two irons nowadays. You might see a big, fat, chunky, driving iron or rescue club.Look it up. Go on YouTube and find a two iron from that era, and you'll see how it was such a tiny little sweet spot.
TOMMY: The size of a pea.
JAMES: Yeah the sweet spot was, yeah, 100%. So anyway, he does his stunning swing, knocks it on the green, and two putts for birdie. Now, Norman, which is forgotten, actually up and downed it for a birdie.
TOMMY: Correct.
JAMES: But as far as Faldo was concerned, he knew if he birdied the hole, it's either gonna extend his lead or at least put him in a very strong position. But he sticks that in the creek, drops it, then he's then got to lob it over the... He could have made himself a double. So the pressure on that two iron with the equipment in those days, with the fact that he started the week swinging it like a donkey, and when you see the swing, it's such a pure contact, and he holds his finish, and you just see the flight from behind. It is a stunning shot. And obviously, then he goes on to win. They have that hug on the 18th green. So as far as the marks are concerned- difficulty, I gave it a 10.
A two iron off a hanging lie, ball above your feet. As far as an importance, again, I gave it a nine. It was important. As far as the pressure was concerned, I think Faldo was such an amazing believer in himself that the pressure actually was only an eight. Because, again, we say, "What's pressure?"Pressure is just a lack of belief in your own ability, isn't it, really? He believed. He could have easily hit a five wood long and then chipped and two putted for a par. He believed the two iron was the club, and he pulled that shot off
TOMMY: I like that. I like that. I like the way you look at pressure like that. I've never heard that- Mm ... but it's right.
JAMES: it is. It's- Just a lack of belief in your own ability ...
TOMMY: absolutely. I've, I, I've never really thought of it like that. Mm. But that's quite enlightening. Okay, so your total score out of 30 for that shot was?
JAMES: 27.
TOMMY: Wow. Okay. Paul, you must have something to add.
PAUL: I could watch that clip over and over and over again. The sound, the sound of that, probably a Balata ball off the club face of that two iron. Just the, sound of the shot, but the rhythm of the swing, I actually thought when I first saw the clip that he was having a practice swing. It was just so pure. It was absolutely just a joy to watch. I could watch that over and over and over again. I marked it similar, a difficulty 10, because until you hold a two iron of that description the one that he was using, once you hold that two iron in your hand, many people, even good golfers, would question whether they would actually be able to find the sweet spot. It's that difficult to hit.
JAMES: Find the club face.
PAUL: To find the club face. Yeah. To find the club face, you know? Difficulty 10. And then for the importance, again, irrespective, Faldo did not know that Norman was gonna get up and down from laying up. As far as he knew, he had to try and literally put the nail in the coffin at that point, and I do think that it was actually very uncharacteristic of Faldo to stand up there and play that kind of shot. I would have thought, Faldo being Faldo, it might have actually been, "You know what? I will lay up. This is what I've done in practice. This is what I've done in the last few rounds. I'm gonna do this." But that really did hit Norman hard. He was already quivering. He was already trembling.And when he saw Faldo play that shot, he realized that, man, he was up against it . So yeah, for importance, I've gone nine. So I've gone difficulty 10, importance nine, and, for the pressure, I've gone f- nine. Right up there. So 28 total. Okay.
TOMMY: Well, going last, you boys have covered pretty much everything I was gonna say. Done it very well, actually. Interesting one. I would agree with what you said there, Paul. Almost unusual for me at that point that Faldo decided to go for the green with a two iron, because obviously he's a renowned strategist. He was one of the best of his time as a strategist, and it was incredible that he decided to put the hammer down at that stage. And James mentioned that, Norman had made a bit of a hash of the 12th hole, and for the first time in that round, Faldo hadn't just clawed back six shots, he had a two-shot lead playing that hole. And I guess Faldo at that point just thought, "You know what? If I make a four, he's gotta match me. But even if he does, I've still got a two-shot lead with five holes to play." So it's really, really, the pressure really then goes to Greg Norman. He switched clubs, didn't he, a few times. He was thinking five wood do it, five wood do I hit two iron do it, five wood do I hit two iron. I'd have gone with the five wood 'cause it's got more bounce on it, and it wouldn't have- stuck into that hanging lie on the slope if I caught it slightly heavy. Yeah, I mean, what an amazing shot, under the pump from 215 yards. Absolutely incredible. Like James mentioned, Faldo actually shot final round 67, and Norman ended up shooting at 78 plus 6. A lot of people say that Norman blew that Masters, but I would actually say that, I mean, it's a bit unfair on Faldo 'cause he did shoot a final round five under to win it, So that was pretty amazing. I haven't been as tight here, boys, but I still haven't given a perfect 10. I gave the difficulty a nine and a half out of 10. I just, I based it on the fact that- Yeah ... I would never, ever have been able to do that. That shot is just something that I just, would have given me shivers if you passed me a two iron and told me to hit that shot. Importance.I had to give it a nine out of 10. It was almost a, "I've got you now. There's no coming back from this." So I gave that a nine. And for the pressure, James mentioned that Faldo backs himself, and of course he does. But I still gave it a nine, because if he had gone pear-shaped-
JAMES: Yeah
TOMMY: and Norman had made his birdie, then all of a sudden we're either level or we're, one behind playing the last five holes. So yeah, my score there, was 27 and a half out of 30. And I'm quite surprised because, , I've never-thought of Faldo as a flair player, as someone that I just go, wow.He was just solid. James?
JAMES: Part of the reason he went for it was the fact that it was a very hard layup, because it's not flat down there, and you don't want to be hitting a wedge off a hanging lie.
TOMMY: Yes.
JAMES: And part of his strategy was that he's gonna go at it, and then if he does miss it to the left, he's in that bunker, he's chipping.But one thing I forgot to put in the main part was, he said this in his interview, when he stood on the 13th tee he said "It's actually mine to lose."So he's had that in the back of his mind when he's pulled out a 2-iron. He must have had an immense mental strength to be able to say, "Okay, I can now take on this really difficult shot, and I believe in my swing, and I believe in everything." Yeah. And again, one thing I've always banged on in all of our podcasts going back, he had Fanny Sunesson on the bag, who was probably one of the best caddies in the world, and you just have her turn round to you and say, "It's the perfect number. I believe in you. Do it." And he goes, "Okay, I'll do
TOMMY: ." That's the extra bit of confidence you need to pull the trigger.
JAMES: 100%.
TOMMY: Yeah, but like Paul said- Mm ... the rhythm, and the noise, it was just- it was so pure. Just so pure, and you could watch that on a loop. Phenomenal. Okay. Paul, who have you got for us? Who's up next out of your three shots?
PAUL: I'm gonna talk to you about Larry Mize, this particular shot, is very much an iconic shot, that basically causes, a certain player called Greg Norman to think, what did I do to deserve this?" So the shot I'm talking about is, a chip shot from off the right-hand side of the 11th green in a playoff at the Masters, hole number 11, 1987.Now, Mize gets to his shot, and he's looking at it, walking up and down, and really, he has only, in my mind, he has two options. Either he can fly the ball directly onto the green with a very, very lofted club, or he can try and play a little bump and run. And the fact that it was at Augusta allows the second option to be an option.There are not many other golf courses where you can use the fairway and the apron with such precision. It's usually a professional golfer would like to get the ball onto the green because therefore he knows the ball will roll in a certain way. But Mize has looked at this, and he's actually thought, "You know what? If I get the ball to land here with a certain trajectory, it'll bounce forward, one more bounce, then it'll get to the green, and it will release out towards the hole." Now, larry Mize, he has a couple of practice swings, and he plays this shot perfectly. One bounce in the fairway, one bounce in the apron, lands on the green, rolls out down towards the hole, hits the flag stick bang in the center, drops in.And for every single Norman supporter out there, their hearts just sank Norman's putt was difficult, obviously, he ended up missing that putt, it was heart-wrenching. It really was. I was a Norman supporter. I love Norman. I thought he was great. And I remember watching that thinking, "How can that happen?" You know, how can that happen? But it did. Great shot. Difficulty, how can you not give the shot?Because of the result of the shot, I've got to give that 10. Importance, I've had to give it 10 because it was the winning shot.Basically, the winning shot. The pressure, funnily enough, I've given that a nine because there is no pressure. There's no pressure. Because I still to this day do not believe that he was trying to hole it. I still think that he was trying to play a shot, a clever shot, a precision shot that was gonna get the ball onto the green, release the ball towards the hole, and hopefully end up not short of the hole.That would've been disastrous. Disastrous if that ball had ended up short. Having said that, though, you've got water behind of course the pressure was there, huge pressure, for the moment. But hey, you know what? I can't give it a 10 because I don't think he wasgoing for it.
TOMMY: So we've given that a 29 out of 30?
PAUL: 29.
TOMMY: Wow. Okay. James, anything to add? Paul's covered a lot of that, but what do you say about it?
JAMES: Yeah, so difficulty I've given it a 10- Mm-hmm ... because if he doesn't get the pace perfect, he either leaves it short and then he's got a wickedly fast downhill putt. He gives it a fraction too much, which I think it probably was anyway.
TOMMY: Yes.
JAMES: If it hadn't hit the flag, I think it's going in the water. . Or it's certainly gonna run 25 feet past. So difficulty gave it a 10. Importance I actually gave it an eight because it, it wasn't like Greg Norman was four foot from the hole. It wasn't like he had to make it. It was just get it on the green and give yourself a chance. The fact that it goes in is a bit of a bonus, so importance-wise, I just went down to an eight. Pressure, anyone that has ever had to hit a chip under pressure in the game of golf, doesn't matter whether it's for a $5 scramble or whatever it is- And you go and hit the perfect chip, and you land in the perfect spot.You know, before you hit it, you're doing all your practice swings. How many times you just catch one behind the ground? You thin it.But with water behind- Yeah ... and the sloping green away from you, and the speed of Augusta greens-
PAUL: 100%.
JAMES: I mean, yeah. Look, it's- So the pressure for me was huge ... pressure 10.
TOMMY: Okay, so you gave it a 28.
JAMES: 28.
TOMMY: Wow, okay.
JAMES: Come on, tight arse.
TOMMY: look, I think I'm about to make every listener realize that if they ever play golf with me, they ain't getting given many putts- ... even from two feet. Unbelievable moment. I just have to mention that it was a three-way playoff, and a certain player dropped out after bogeying the 10th hole. Yeah. Seve was actually going for- Yeah ... his third win in seven years- Yeah ... having won it in 1980 and 1983. So that would've been quite something. When he missed the green and, it ended up 140 feet away, to the right-hand side, you know? And he had this shot. And the greens, I don't know what they were running at on the stimp, but it would've been 13. Probably 13 or something. The thing that I remember about that shot is I thought to myself, "What was it? A one in 5,000 shot?" Or-
JAMES: Oh, at least
TOMMY: It was, wasn't it? Yeah. I mean, to actually do that in that moment, it has to be the best shot Larry Mize ever played in his life.It has to be-to chip it in, I mean, it was a serious hammer blow to Norman, who we know has been on the end of some pretty tough finishes. Yeah, I gave the difficulty a 9 out of 10 I gave Importance, I gave it an 8 out of 10. because it was obviously Larry Mize's only major. It was do or die really. I agree with you, Paul. I think that he was trying to hopefully give himself like , an eight-footer back up the slope, having watched the line and seen what the borrow was when it went past the flag. But like James said, to actually hit the pin and drop-Unbelievable - Pressure, I gave it an 8 out of 10. ,
So- yeah, I gave it a 25 out of 30. James,
JAMES: Yeah. The thing is that he actually bogeyed the last to go into the playoff.
TOMMY: Larry Mize did.
JAMES: Larry Mize did. Yeah,
TOMMY: I don't remember that. And the other, and the other two both made pars . So, you know, he's, already in the back of his mind he's made a bogey. He's hit it into an impossible position. Here comes another bogey, see you later, and when it goes clang in, phew. Well that's five out of nine iconic shots reviewed and scored so far. four epic golf shots left to cover before we can lock in our final rankings. We'll reveal what those shots are and how we scored them next time in part two of the Iconic Nine.
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