My Five: Pebble Beach's Finest Moments

By Jaime Diaz

My Five: Pebble Beach's Finest Moments

February 09, 2011

Tom Watson, 1982 U.S. OpenBefore hitting arguably the greatest short game shot in golf history, Watson was tied with Jack Nicklaus with two holes to play. On the 209 yard 17th, he slightly pulled a 2-iron that ended in heavy greenside rough about 15 feet from the pin. From a downhill lie and with the green sloping away from him, Watson decided that his only chance to get the ball close was to hit the flagstick. Deftly getting his 56-degree sand wedge under the ball, he landed it softly. When it kissed the stick and dropped, Watson charged around the green pointing at his caddie, Bruce Edwards, while Nicklaus, watching on a television monitor behind the 18th green, was crestfallen. An "excuse me" birdie on the last gave Watson a two -stroke victory and his only U.S. Open.

AP Photo

Tom Kite, 1992 U.S. OpenA vicious right-to-left crosswind and rock hard conditions made the 100-yard seventh one of the most difficult holes on the course in the final round. In the final groups, player after player missed the green. Kite punched a low 6-iron, but with the ocean looming right, pulled his shot 10 yards left of the green in heavy rough. From there, he took the club he had pioneered in professional golf, the 60-degree wedge, and hit a soft cut shot that landed on the green and ran into the hole for a confidence-building birdie. On a day in which the average score was 77.3, Kite scrambled all the way for a closing 72 for a two-stroke victory and his only major championship.

Gary Newkirk/Getty Images

Tiger Woods, 2000 AT&T National Pro-AmTrailing Matt Gogel by seven shots with seven to play, Woods had 97 yards left for his approach to the par-4 15th. With the pin set on a steep right-to-left slope, he chose a pitching wedge rather than a sand wedge, using a smooth, dead-arm action to reduce backspin. The shot came off perfectly, landing about six feet to the right of the hole and trickling in for eagle. His birdies on the 16th and 18th for a closing 64, combined with Gogel's four back nine bogeys, gave Woods a two-stroke victory and his sixth win in a row. The streak would end the following week at Torrey Pines, but when Woods returned to Pebble in June, he won the U.S. Open by 15.

Harry How/Getty Images

Jack Nicklaus, 1972 U.S. OpenIt wasn't the greatest shot Nicklaus ever hit, or the most important. But the theater involved made it the most memorable. With a three-stroke lead, Nicklaus faced a howling 30-mph headwind that had made the 17th nearly unreachable in the closing round and chose his trusty 1-iron. After feeling that his takeaway had closed the clubface, he adjusted on the downswing and hit a bullet, his long blond mane billowing as he held his finish. The ball pierced the heavy air and short-hopped hard into the bottom of the flagstick, stopping a foot away. The stunning effect was like a lightning bolt sent down to emphatically mark the Golden Bear -- who left Pebble with his third U.S. Open and two legs of the Grand Slam -- at his absolute best.

AP Photo

Hale Irwin, 1984 Bing Crosby Pro-AmIrwin tied Jim Nelford with a miraculous birdie on the 72nd hole that began when he hooked his drive over the seawall, only to see it carom off rocks and back into the fairway. On the second playoff hole, the par-4 16th, Irwin hit what he would call "the worst tee ball of my life," a popped up 3-wood that travelled less than 200 yards and landed in an obscure fairway bunker. But from 213 yards, Irwin made perfect contact with a 2-iron, carrying the deep barranca fronting the green and rolling to within 10 feet of the pin -- the best long-iron shot in a career full of superb ones. After the snake-bitten Nelford missed his birdie putt from 20 feet, Irwin coldly made his.)

Gary Newkirk/Getty Images