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The most memorable shots of major champions are birdies, sometimes an eagle. What stands out to them are the pars, sometimes a bogey. And it’s not always on Sunday.
Hideki Matsuyama wonders what his outlook might have been if not for key putts on Thursday and Friday at Augusta National. Collin Morikawa needed one of his worst holes to play his best golf at Royal St. George’s.
In interviews with the four major champions, they recall at least one shot everyone remembers and one that is just as meaningful.
MASTERS
The action came so quickly Saturday after a rain delay at Augusta National that it was hard to keep up with all the birdies and eagles. Matsuyama took charge with the signature shot of the Masters, a 5-iron from 208 yards to 6 feet for eagle to take the lead for good. He followed with two birdies and a remarkable par save for a four-shot lead.
“It was a perfect number for a cut 5-iron with no wind,” Matsuyama said last week in an email interview. “I knew it was going to be good when it left the club and felt for sure I could make birdie when I saw it in the air. Making eagle was a real bonus.”
He remembers just as strongly how he finished each round.
Matsuyama was coming off a three-putt bogey on the 17th hole in the opening round when he holed a 7-foot par putt on the 18th. On Friday, he made another 7-foot par putt that kept him in range of Justin Rose, the 36-hole leader. And then on Saturday, his approach from a fairway bunker went over the 18th green some 25 yards up a walkway. He chipped down to 3 feet.
“Each round had a meaningful shot that probably went unnoticed by many,” he said.
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
If anyone was curious whether a 50-year-old really could win a major, Phil Mickelson offered an early reminder he was no ordinary senior. Lefty had a one-shot lead over Brooks Koepka when he put his tee shot into the front bunker on the par-3 fifth hole. With a short game that has never left him, Mickelson holed out for birdie in perhaps the most…
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Source : yahoo
