It may be the greatest shot ever hit in the history of Major championships. If not, it’s least the best shot ever hit at the Masters.
With complete respect to Gene Sarazen’s albatross on the 15th hole in 1935, the second ever Masters Tournament was not the event it had evolved into by 2005.
Tiger Woods’ chip-in for birdie on the par-3 16th during the final round of the 2005 Masters instantly went viral all over the sporting world. Woods had pulled his tee shot long and left, and his ball sat on the shaved surrounds but up against the collar of the rough. Woods chipped a lob wedge up the bank and let his ball feed back down the slope. It paused on the edge of the cup to give Nike the most organic, impactful few seconds of advertising in history and then dropped into the cup.
Woods bogeyed the next two holes but nobody remembers that given he beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff to validate his incredible chip-in.
But Woods’ former caddie, Steve Williams, revealed something about the shot you probably didn’t know in a new podcast series, Chasing Majors. The famous New Zealand caddie goes into detail about that iconic moment in episode 8.
Neither Woods, nor Williams, had ever seen that part of Augusta National. Woods had to hit a completely foreign shot under the gun and Williams had to advise on a situation he’d never been in. Williams elaborates at the 41min36s mark:
Tiger Woods turns 46 today.
We'll never tire of watching this angle of his famous chip-in on the 16th at the 2005 Masters. pic.twitter.com/YYTcCtVPPX
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) December 30, 2021
The post What you probably didn’t know about Tiger Woods’ famous 2005 Masters chip in appeared first on New Zealand Golf Digest.