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Opening Shot

20/20

Here at The Golf Guide, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary. We thought it
would be interesting to look back over golf’s past 20 years and countdown what we
feel were the 20 most memorable moments and major achievements.
20) Jean Van de Velde goes swimming and makes 7 on the last hole of the 1999
British Open and loses in a playoff to Paul Lawrie.
19) Birdie Kim’s bunker birdie on the last hole wins the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open.
18) Bubba Watson’s hooked wedge out of the woods in a playoff with Louis
Oosthuizen wins the 2012 Masters in bubba fashion.
17) David Duval shoots a 59 final round to triumph in the Bob Hope Classic. He
eagles the 18th
16) Tiger Woods wins at Bethpage Black while Sergio Garcia’s waggles get the New
Yorkers jeering and counting his many re-grips.
15) At 53, Tom Watson, with ailing caddie Bruce Edwards carrying his bag, shoots
65 and shares the lead in the first round of the 2003 U.S. Open eventually won by
Jim Furyk
14) “I’m such an idiot,” says Phil Mickelson after throwing away the 2006 U.S. Open
at Winged Foot. We may have forgotten that it would have been Phil’s third
straight major win.
13) Sergio closes his eyes on a shot in a mano-a-mano with Tiger Woods as the golf
world opens its eyes to the young Spaniard at the ‘99 PGA Championship
12) Bill Haas’ insane shot out of the water on the second playoff hole of the 2011
FedEx Championship leads to gold at East Lake.
11) Ladies #1 Annika Sorenstam plays with the boys on the PGA Tour in the Colonial
Invitational in 2003 even though she missed the cut.
10) “You’re going to be a father.” Payne Stewart wins by one shot over Phil Mickelson
in a thrilling U.S. Open in 1999 at Pinehurst.
9) In October 1999, Payne Stewart would be among the victims of an air accident
caused by a sudden loss of cabin pressure in their Learjet.
8) Tiger Woods wins the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots, when he scored 12 under at
Pebble Beach.
7) Phil the Thrill lives up to his nme when he lands 4 feet from the hole after
shooting from the top of a pine straw mound behind a tree on number 13 at
Augusta in 2012 en route to another Masters’ victory.
6) The King is gone. Arnold Palmer, the most popular and charismatic player in the
history of the game, dies at age 87 in September 2016.
5) An “ailing” Tiger defeats fan favorite Rocco Mediate in an overtime duel for the
ages at the ‘08 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
4) Tiger’s impossible chip in from the back of the 16th hole in the final round of the
2005 Masters leads to yet another green jacket.
3) We all leapt for joy when, finally, Phil Mickelson won a major with a birdie on
the final hole of the 2004 Masters.
2) Tiger completes the “Tiger Slam” at the 2001 Masters with a 2-shot win over
David Duval
1) Justin Leonard’s long putt helps the USA complete an incredible comeback in
1999 Ryder Cup
Some of these moments were quite good while some were not so good But no one
can argue that all have etched their place in golf history

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