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Opinion & Analysis

9 Masters moments from this decade that shook the golfing world

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We are about to embark on the final Masters tournament of the decade. Accordingly, it’s a good time to look back at some of the most dramatic and iconic moments at this illustrious event from the past nine years.

No tournament has continuously delivered the electrifying moments the Masters has in recent times. Here are nine notable incidents from this decade, which rocked the golfing world.

9. Spieth’s Run – 2018

Beginning his final round on Sunday, Spieth stood nine shots off of Patrick Reed’s lead. But the 25-year-old came out like a freight train in the final round, with birdies at 1 ,2, 5, 8 and 9 propelling him up the leaderboard, and the Texan more than carried the momentum from that 31 into the back nine. Spieth continued to generate the noise through the pine trees as he brought Augusta National to its knees on Sunday, delivering birdie blows on 12,13, and 15, before holing an outrageous 30-foot birdie putt on 16 to tie the lead.

Was this to be the most spectacular comeback in Masters history? Not quite, as a birdie putt on 17 burned the edge of the hole, before a crooked drive on 18 led to a bogey ending his chances of claiming victory. But, boy, what a ride Jordan Spieth gave every golf fan that Sunday.

8. Tiger’s Charge – 2011

It has been said that players can tell when the cheers that reverberate around Augusta National are specifically for Woods, and on Sunday, April 8, 2011, there was no doubting that it was the 14-time-major champion sending the patrons wild during the final round. Birdies at 2,3,6 and 7 set the tone for Woods’ day, before an incredible draw around the pine trees on number eight set up an eagle try. What followed was one of the great Masters moments. Woods buried the eagle putt before unleashing one of the biggest fist pumps seen to man while the patrons in the stand behind the eight green went into a frenzy delivering a cacophony of noise to let every other player in the field know that Woods was not just on the march, but he was tied for the lead.

A three-putt bogey from 30 feet on his twelfth hole, following by a disappointing par on 13 looked to have cost Woods any chance of getting his hands on a fifth green jacket, but like the great champion he is, Woods kept his legion of supporters believing, with one of the purest second shots on 15 that you’re every likely to see. The 80-time-winner on the PGA Tour stuck his second on the par-5 15th from 215 yards to inside six feet for an eagle attempt that would have given him the outright lead. But the putt lipped out, and with that, Woods’ hopes ended.

7. McIlroy’s Meltdown – 2011

While Woods was bringing the heat on Sunday in 2011, a 21-year-old Rory McIlroy was poised for his first green jacket. The Ulsterman had played flawless golf all week long and held a four-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round. McIlroy went out nervously, posting a front nine 37, before the wheels well and truly came off.

A snap hook on 10 led to a triple bogey, which he followed with another bogey and then a brutally hard to watch four-putt double bogey on 12. McIlroy was left to play out his round in an undesirable atmosphere of sympathy, and eight years on, the Masters remains the one major championship which has eluded him so far in his career.

6. Sergio’s Eagle – 2017

Fifteen at Augusta is one of the most picturesque holes in golf, with the skinny green overlooked on both sides by the patrons, and the water guarding the front of the putting surface reflecting the players perfectly as they walk towards the green. On Sunday in 2017, the hole belonged to Sergio Garcia, who sat one stroke off the leader, Justin Rose, before striking his second shot on the par-5. Having already seen Rose play his approach shot to the left side of the green, Garcia hit his second shot flush, sending the ball sailing high into the air before it took a slight deflection off the flagstick and settled inside 15 feet presenting Garcia with a massive eagle opportunity.

The drama didn’t end there, and after Rose’s third shot had landed three feet from the hole, Garcia addressed his eagle attempt in almost total silence. After striking his putt, Garcia’s ball slowly dripped towards the target and looked destined to finish short of the cup before crawling its way into the hole. The eagle had landed. The patrons exploded, and the Spaniard let it all out with a massive show of emotion. The eagle spurred Garcia on to win the first major championship of his career.

5. Bubba’s Brilliance – 2012

Bubba Watson’s win at Augusta National in 2012 will always be synonymous with his unbelievable hooked wedge from the trees during the two-man playoff, and rightly so. Vying for his first ever major championship in a playoff with South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, Watson found himself in a less than ideal position after he sent his tee shot into the woods to the right of the fairway. Oosthuizen was in trouble on the hole himself and was short of the green after playing his second shot, but surely must have thought he was still in pole position.

However, Watson is no ordinary golfer, and while standing deep in the trees, almost at a right angle to the tenth green, Watson decided to hit a wedge from 155 yards and hooked the ball 40 yards, landing it on the putting surface. Two putts from there was enough to provide Watson with the first of two Masters victories. One of the most incredible shots in the history of the game and it still leads to debate over just how Watson managed to pull it off.

4. Mickelson’s Pine Straw Magic – 2010

While holding a two-stroke advantage over his playing partner, Lee Westwood, with just six holes remaining, the consensus was that Phil Mickelson should lay up on the par-5 13th hole when he found his ball in the pine straw on Sunday in 2010. But Lefty and the safe option have never had the best of relationships, and Mickelson decided that it was time for him to seize the moment.

CBS golf announcer, Peter Kostis, said at the time “This could be the tournament” as Mickelson set up to hit his approach shot from the pine straw between two trees and over Rae’s Creek. “The greatest shot of his life” was what we heard next from Nick Faldo, as the ball hit the green and settled five feet from the cup. Mickelson may have missed the eagle putt, but birdie was enough to preserve his two-shot lead, and Lefty closed out the tournament to claim his third green jacket and continue his love affair with Augusta National.

3. Woods Gets Robbed – 2013

Tiger Woods headed to the 2013 Masters as the prohibitive favorite. The 14-time major champion had won three of his last four events coming into the year’s first major championship, and Woods seeking his fifth green jacket began ominously. An opening round of 70 was improved upon during Woods’ second round, where he shot a front nine score of 33 and co-led heading to the 15th hole. A par-5 which Woods could reach in two, the 80-time winner on the PGA Tour was looking for one thing – the solo lead.

Forced to lay up, Woods was faced with a delicate third shot, that he needed to nip perfectly. He did so, and what happened next was one of the worst pieces of luck ever seen at the Masters. Woods’ ball crashed into the pin, and the backspin which was designed to leave Woods with a very makeable birdie attempt had his ball not rebounded off the flagstick, spun all the way back into the water. “Royally cheated” announced David Feherty, and Woods’ hopes for his 15th major took a cruel blow.

Woods composed himself, executed a brilliant fifth shot, saved bogey, and signed for a 71 to leave him three shots off of leader Jason Day. What happened after that was pure chaos as Woods’ drop from the incorrect position on 15 led to his score on the hole being adjusted from a 6 to an 8, and ultimately his hopes were sunk. Woods lost that tournament by a margin of four strokes, and as well as he was playing at the time, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he doesn’t deliver number 15 had that ball during his second round avoided colliding with the flagstick.

2. Scott’s Glory & Cabrera’s Defiance – 2013

As far as dramatic moments go on the 72nd hole at Augusta National, Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera’s tussle in the rain in 2013 is as good as it can get. Scott and Cabrera were tied for the lead, each at eight-under. While Scott assessed his 25-foot birdie attempt on 18, Cabrera watched from the middle of the 18th fairway. The Australian had hardly made a putt of any note all day long, but kept the best until the last, as he drew his putter back and let the ball fall down the slope and into the side of the cup to take the lead. Scott’s epic outpouring of joy, where he bellowed out “Come on, Aussie” was matched by Jim Nantz’ timely and emotive commentary on the moment, and it looked as if Scott had finally done enough to claim the first green jacket for himself and his country while banishing the awful memories from the 2012 Open Championship.

But while Scott walked away, to sign his scorecard, and with the patrons still buzzing off that spectacular moment, the man dubbed “El Pato” was not to be outdone. With the rain crashing down, Cabrera hit what is arguably the greatest approach under the circumstances ever seen at the 72nd hole at Augusta National. Cabrera struck his shot and walked after it instantly. The ball stuck three-feet from the hole, and “El Pato” marched up to the green before nonchalantly knocking in the putt for birdie.

Scott reigned supreme in the playoff, with a brilliant birdie on the tenth hole to claim his maiden major championship, in what was one of the highest quality finishes that the event has ever seen.

1. Jordan’s Collapse – 2016

Jordan Spieth came to Augusta National in 2016 having won two majors the previous season, including the 2015 Masters, and finishing no worse than T4 in any of the biggest championships. The Texan’s affinity for the Masters began in 2014 where he finished T2, and Spieth was on fire as he looked to go back-to-back in 2016. He opened with a 66 and remained in front under challenging conditions heading into Sunday’s final round.

Though beginning with a narrow one-stroke lead, Spieth quickly extended that and looked well on his way to a second green jacket after making a run of four successive birdies to make the turn in 32, which gave him a five-shot cushion with just nine holes to play. The golden boy of golf was doing it again on golfs grandest stage, and if there were one soul in the world that said they thought the tournament still had life at that stage, you wouldn’t have believed them. What followed, was 45 minutes of the most extraordinary and thoroughly unbelievable sequences of action that rocked every follower of golf.

Spieth dropped a shot at 10, which didn’t seem too costly at the time, but when a pushed tee shot into the trees on the treacherous 11th hole coincided with Danny Willett’s birdie at 14, life entered back into the event. Spieth made bogey on the hole and approached the 12th hole with just a one-stroke lead. What followed, was inexplicable. Spieth pushed his tee shot into Rae’s Creek, and then faced with a crucial third shot after taking a drop, the 25-year-old hit his third shot fat, and turned away in disgust as his ball, as well as his aspirations of winning back-to-back Masters events, sunk into Rae’s creek.

Spieth took a quadruple bogey on the hole, and in 45 minutes he had gone from leading the Masters by five strokes to trailing by three. The Texan rallied like the warrior he is, making birdie at 13 and 15 before hitting a great tee shot into the par-3 16th, but it wasn’t enough, and Danny Willett took advantage of the Texan’s meltdown to claim the title.

Spieth’s collapse remains the most mystifying and shocking disintegration at a major championship in recent times. The Texan had closed so brilliantly the previous year and had not given one hint during either of his appearances at Augusta National that he could unravel in the way he did in 2016. Spieth’s incredible closing finish to capture the Open Championship in 2017, as well as his scintillating Sunday at Augusta last year may have gone some way to banish the demons from the 2016 Masters, but arguably, only a second green jacket will dispel them for good.

 

 

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. JuannyBravo

    Apr 10, 2019 at 9:50 am

    #3 shook the golf world because Tiger would have been DQ’d if he was any other golfer

  2. M

    Apr 10, 2019 at 2:50 am

    #3 didn’t shake anybody. The Lord punishes in mysterious ways lol

    • M

      Apr 10, 2019 at 2:51 am

      Oh but damn, Eldorck lied and said he was a Buddhist

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Opinion & Analysis

The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

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As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!

Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.

Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.

One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?

Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.

Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.

Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”

For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…

Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…

That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.

Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.

@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic

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Podcasts

Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

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Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!

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Opinion & Analysis

On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

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Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.

 

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“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”

Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.

That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.

As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.

I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.

One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.

The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.

If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.

Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.

As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.

It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.

David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.

In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:

“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”

Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

Eventually, though, something shifts.

We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.

Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.

Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.

Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.

So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.

I see someone evolving.

He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.

It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.

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