NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Golf

Golf: Shots that made winners

By Doug Ferguson
NZ Herald·
17 Dec, 2016 04:00 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Danny Willett from England. Photo / Shelley Lipton

Danny Willett from England. Photo / Shelley Lipton

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
From a Masters collapse to a British Open duel, Doug Ferguson reflects on a rollercoaster year of golf majors.

From 20 feet away, Dustin Johnson was just trying to hit the green. From 190 yards, he was going at the flag. Henrik Stenson made a 50-foot putt across the 15th green at Royal Troon and found as much value in the putt he made from 4 feet on the next hole.

The long and short of every golf season is defined by major championships. This year brought a collapse at the Masters, chaos over a ruling at the US Open, a duel at the British Open and a marathon at the PGA Championship. There were signature shots from each, and a shot that held particular significance to each winner.

Interviews with the four major champions revealed both.

The Masters
Danny Willett was in dire need of a bathroom break for more than obvious reasons.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Coming off the 15th green, he saw the large leaderboard that showed him leading the Masters after Jordan Spieth put two in the water on the 12th hole and made triple bogey.

"People were cheering, shouting, 'Look, you're leading the Masters'. It probably was good timing for a bathroom break," Willett said. "I locked the door and at least got a minute to myself."

What followed were the winning shots - an 8-iron to seven feet and the putt for birdie. On a day that until then had been mostly about Spieth, that was his signature moment.

But there was another shot that stood out to Willett.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He had hit a 3-wood towards the pine trees on the par-5 13th in the previous rounds. On Sunday, he was five shots behind and running out of holes, so he opted for the driver.

"Because I don't draw it, that's a tough tee shot for me," Willett said. "I stood up there and hit a five-yard draw and got it down there, and it left us a 5-iron in."

He still could have made birdie even if he had driven in the trees. He still needed help from Spieth. But pulling off that shot did wonders for his confidence.

"It was one of the real good ones of the week," he said.

Discover more

Golf

The physics graduate revolutionising golf

09 Dec 07:24 PM
Golf

Greg Norman's secret plan to 'shatter' golf

13 Dec 02:19 AM

US Open
Four months after his US Open victory, Dustin Johnson still doesn't know the final margin and still doesn't think he should have been penalised for his ball moving on the fifth green at Oakmont. But he won't forget two shots.

The highlight was a 6-iron from 190 yards from the 18th fairway that settled five feet away for birdie.

Johnson was leading by three, though he said he stopped looking at leaderboards after the USGA told him he might be penalised one shot after the round.

"The wind was off the left. I wanted to hit a cut to the middle of the green and let it drift to the flag," he said. "I knew if I hit it straight, I'd be fine. I hit the shot I wanted. I knew when I hit it close, I was going to win."

He was more excited about the short par-4 17th, where he hit his tee shot into the right bunker. That's where he wanted to be, though he knew the bunker shot would be his toughest. Anything too strong and the ball would go across the green into another bunker.

Anything short and it would roll back into the bunker he was in.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It just cleared the lip and was 20 feet short of the hole and set up the par he needed.

"It was not an easy bunker shot," he said. "I was ecstatic when it was on the green. It was a really hard shot. Just really hard."

British Open
Ask Henrik Stenson for one shot and he can't help but mention six of them. The battle at Royal Troon with Phil Mickelson was that good.

Stenson tied a major record by closing with a 63 and his 264 was the lowest 72-hole score in major championship history.

The biggest shot was his 50-foot birdie putt across the 15th green for a two-shot lead.

"I had a long putt on 11," he said. "The greens are fairly slow at links, and sometimes on a long putt, you're taking it back and think, 'this is too much', and I decelerated on the putt and came up 6 feet short and ended up three-putting.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I looked at the hole during my practice strokes and said, 'it doesn't matter how it feels, just commit to whatever length of stroke you're making'. It felt like a bit of a slap shot when I hit it. It dropped over the edge at perfect pace."

As for that one shot of special significance? He nearly went hole-by-hole for the entire weekend until settling on No10 in the third round.

Mickelson had a one-shot lead when Stenson got in trouble off the tee and had 35 feet left for par. He holed it to stay one behind.

"That one kept the momentum," Stenson said of his par putt. "That one kept me in the ball game."

PGA Championship
Jimmy Walker was walking toward his third shot on the par-5 17th in the final round at Baltusrol when he saw that Jason Day failed to make birdie in the group ahead of him.

Walker was still two shots clear of the No1 player in the world. That's when he turned to caddie Andy Sanders.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I said: 'This is it. I birdie this and it's over, we win. Let's do it now as opposed to doing it on the last hole'. That was the goal, to birdie right there," he said.

He made birdie from eight feet but only after he backed off twice on hearing the cheers of Day's approach to the par-5 18th that set up eagle.

Walker held on to win by one, ending a 36-hole Sunday caused by rain delays.

He found the confidence to win earlier Sunday during the third round with what looked like an ordinary shot into the sixth green.

Walker said he had been horsing around with his two sons the night before and tweaked his neck.

During his warm-up for a marathon final day, he felt pain from the right side of his neck when he turned in that direction, though it didn't affect his swing. Even so, he was conscious of it and hit some loose shots being overly protective.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That changed at No6.

"I said: 'Dude, it's not hurting. Get over it. Let's go play'." Walker said: "I hit a great 7-iron to 5 feet and made it. And that was the shot that started to right the ship. It was quality golf after that."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Golf

Golf

Kiwi Alker pipped of major championship in playoff

22 Jun 11:59 PM
Golf

Kiwi Alker leads PGA Tour Champions major

21 Jun 02:57 AM
Golf

'Exhausted all options': Ryan Fox on strange finish to brutal US Open

18 Jun 10:00 PM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Golf

Kiwi Alker pipped of major championship in playoff

Kiwi Alker pipped of major championship in playoff

22 Jun 11:59 PM

Two playoff holes were needed to decide the event, with Alker settling for second.

Kiwi Alker leads PGA Tour Champions major

Kiwi Alker leads PGA Tour Champions major

21 Jun 02:57 AM
'Exhausted all options': Ryan Fox on strange finish to brutal US Open

'Exhausted all options': Ryan Fox on strange finish to brutal US Open

18 Jun 10:00 PM
Ko hints at Olympic future ahead of shot at grand slam

Ko hints at Olympic future ahead of shot at grand slam

18 Jun 03:31 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP