I get asked every year about the greatest shots ever at the Masters and to be honest once I go through the history books so many then come to mind.
Most of us never saw Gene Sarazan's famous 4 wood for example, but I have read about it so many times, it is like I was there.
Recently Tiger's famous chip in on 16 with the Nike swoosh pausing, posing as if for it's maker for all to see, right on the lip before falling into the cup is one for sure.
Maybe because he is Scottish ( an Anglo Scot ) I always remember Sandy Lyle's 7 iron from the fairway bunker on the final hole in 1988
Two UK athletes cut from the same cloth were Sandy Lyle and Joe Bugner. Both were blindingly talented, one at golf and the other at boxing, but both were so frustrating to watch as they seemed to desperately need someone to light that blow torch under their backsides to fulfill that God given ability.
Bugner at about 6'5" went 15 rounds with Ali in his prime and barely got hit, trouble is he barely hit Ali !! He went through bout after bout never punching his weight or even close to it, but he was so big he rarely got hurt.
Sandy was the same sort of laid back, easy going type of guy. He was so long off the tee, at one point in his career he put away his driver and used his 1 iron off the tee.
He was using that 1 iron as he stepped on the tee at the 72nd hole in the 1988 Masters. europeantour.com picks up the story at the 11th
Lyle reached Amen Corner with a two-stroke lead.
However his seemingly solid challenge began to unravel with a bogey on the 11th which preceded a watery grave and subsequent double bogey on the 12th, meaning Lyle stood on the 15th tee one shot behind American Mark Calcavecchia.
After holing a reinvigorating 15ft birdie putt on the 16th to negate that deficit and making par on the 17th, he walked to the 18th knowing that a three would more than likely secure the coveted Green Jacket.
Lyle intended to lay-up short of the two left-hand fairway bunkers but with the adrenalin pumping he carried his one iron tee shot straight into the sand.
With playing partner Ben Crenshaw already struggling on Augusta National’s iconic closing hole, Lyle’s mental resolve came under severe scrutiny but a favourable lie gave him the conviction to play what would become the greatest shot of his career.
With 146 yards to the pin, Lyle knew a seven iron was the ideal club. Keeping his balance, he produced the near-perfect stroke, jumping from the bunker to see the outcome as growing cheers from the crowd greeted the balls pitch on the green 30feet past the flag, followed by a languid descent downhill coming to rest 10ft from the hole.
From there, Lyle rolled in the clinching birdie and broke into a joyous dance which has become almost as memorable as the remarkable bunker shot that preceded it.
"It’s one of the great bunker shots. There’s hardly a week goes by that I’m not reminded about. Each week I play in Pro-Ams and the guys will say “oh yeah, I remember that five iron from the bunker”. And I’ll say, well seven iron actually, but they still remember that bunker shot.
“It has stayed in a lot of people’s memories. I’m still the only person to make a birdie from the bunker on the 18th – there has been a few birdies on the 18th to win the Masters since I’ve done it, O’Meara and Mickelson, but not from the bunker. So it was something a little different"
Lyle’s victory heralded a four year long British domination of the Masters Tournament, with Sir Nick Faldo capturing the Green Jacket in 1989 and 1990 and Ian Woosnam succeeding him in 1991
Sandy is playing the European Senior Tour these days and he recently won for the 1st time since 1992 at the Mission Hills resort in China
This week he will enjoy his 30th Augusta visit, 23rd as a former Champion and I'll bet he will b asked to drop one in that bunker to see if he can pull off what he did in '88, one of the great shots in Masters history
Bryan Angus
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