Memorable shots in the Masters from every club in the bag
Every hole has a tale about the Masters. The playlist of shots is longer than any of the other majors because everyone knows Augusta National so well, players and fans alike.
Every club has a story, too.
What follows are some of the most memorable shots at the Masters from every club in the bag.
DRIVER
Byron Nelson drove the seventh green on his way to his first Masters victory in 1937. The impact of that shot had more to do with the golf course than his scorecard. With a suggestion from 1934 champion Horton Smith, the green was moved 20 yards back and to the right on a slope, surrounded by five bunkers, and trees were added down the left side.
3-WOOD
Sam Snead and Ben Hogan were tied through 12 holes in an 18-hole playoff for the 1954 Masters when they reached the par-5 13th. Hogan went first and laid up. Snead hit his 3-wood onto the green for a two-putt birdie and a one-shot lead, and Hogan never caught up.
4-WOOD
Gene Sarazen called this club his “Dodo,” and he used it for the most famous shot in Masters history in 1935. He holed out from 235 yards on the par-5 15th for an albatross to erase a three-shot deficit, and he beat Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff the next day. It became known as the “shot heard 'round the world.”
1-IRON
Jack Nicklaus was one shot behind in the final round of the 1975 Masters when he hit “one of the finest 1-iron shots I can remember” onto the green at the 15th. He two-putted for birdie and a share of the lead. Tom Weiskopf also birdied the 15th in the group behind Nicklaus to regain the lead, but only briefly. Nicklaus went on to his fifth green jacket.
2-IRON
Nick Faldo had the lead for the first time in 1996 as Greg Norman imploded. Faldo was torn between clubs as he stood in the middle of the 13th fairway. Set up over the ball, he backed away and switched to a 2-iron that he hit purely onto the green for a two-shot victory, a key moment.
3-IRON
Norman is remembered for his bogey on the final hole that cost him a chance in the 1986 Masters. Forgotten is that he birdied four in a row to tie Nicklaus for the lead, no shot more exquisite than his 3-iron on the 17th. From the adjacent seventh hole, he hit a low bullet under the trees and ran it near the edge of the bunker to 12 feet from the hole.
4-IRON
Nicklaus needed help to win the 1986 Masters, and Seve Ballesteros delivered the biggest gift. The great Spaniard had a one-shot lead and was in the 15th fairway, just inside 200 yards, when he pulled his 4-iron into the water short of the green. He made bogey, and then trailed when Nicklaus birdied the 17th.
5-IRON
Nicklaus chose 5-iron for the par-3 16th during his Sunday charge to win the 1986 Masters. As the ball was in flight, his son caddying for him said, “Be good.” Nicklaus, stooped to pick up his tee and said, “It is.” The ball nearly went in and left him a 4-foot birdie putt.
6-IRON
Arnold Palmer made birdie on the 17th for a three-way tie for the lead in 1960. On the final hole, he hit 6-iron to 6 feet for birdie, becoming the first Masters champion to birdie the last two holes to win by one.
7-IRON
Sandy Lyle was tied for the lead with Mark Calcavecchia when he hit into the bunker on the 18th hole. Facing a steep face that made it unlikely he could reach the green, Lyle hit 7-iron over the lip to 10 feet and made birdie to win in 1988.
8-IRON
Sergio Garcia was one shot behind in the final round of 2017 when he hammered a drive and hit 8-iron that landed in front of the hole, nicked the pin and settled 15 feet away for eagle that tied him for the lead. He eventually beat Justin Rose in the playoff.
9-IRON
Even with back-to-back bogeys to start the back nine, Jordan Spieth still had the lead in 2016 when he hit 9-iron toward the flag on the 12th hole and watched it bound off the slope into the water. He hit the next one in the water, made quadruple bogey and shot 41 on the back nine to lose the Masters to Danny Willett.
PITCHING WEDGE
If there was one shot that illustrated the power Tiger Woods brought to Augusta National in his pro debut in 1997, it was pitching wedge to the par-5 15th hole in the first round for an eagle. Woods played the par 5s in 13 under for the week and won by 12.
GAP WEDGE
Bubba Watson was lost in the trees right of the 10th fairway in a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen in 2012. He was 155 yards away and hit a gap wedge that hooked some 40 yards and onto the green, setting up an easy par to win
SAND WEDGE
Norman had the upper hand on the second playoff hole in 1987, just off the green with Larry Mize well right of the 11th green about 140 feet away, hoping to get it close. He did even better. Mize chipped in for birdie and won.
LOB WEDGE
Woods had a one-shot lead over Chris DiMarco in 2005 and was in trouble behind the 16th green, his ball nestled against the collar of the rough. With a shot that took its place in Augusta lore, Woods pitched it up the slope and watched it roll down toward the cup, pausing for a full second before taking one final turn and dropped for birdie.
PUTTER
The best player to never win a major, Phil Mickelson had an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole in 2004 to beat Ernie Els and win the Masters. The putt swirled around the cup and dropped, and Mickelson leaped into the air.
