The wonder shot that defined The Master

DON’T be surprised if it turns up soon in a new Tiger Woods commercial. This was a shot, though, that will outlive any ad campaign.

Brilliant, even before it hung tantalisingly on the lip, Woods’ chip became one for the ages when it toppled into the bottom of the cup on the 16th hole of the Masters on Sunday.

Woods wasn’t trying for a memorable moment when he hit the shot that swept down a ridge and funnelled its way slowly into the hole. He was just trying to win a golf tournament, and his fourth green jacket. He got both, with a shot that will join iconic Masters moments of the past.

“I was just trying to throw the ball up there on the hill and let it feed down there and hopefully have a makeable putt,” Woods said. “All of a sudden, it looked pretty good, and all of a sudden it looked like really good, and it looked like how could it not go in, and how did it not go in, and all of a sudden it went in.

“So, it was pretty sweet.”

It wasn’t just the magnitude of the moment, or the difficulty of the shot, though the moment was huge and the shot treacherous. It was the image of the ball rolling slowly down the slop and stopping for two agonising seconds before finally dropping in the cup that will be remembered years after the fans who were privileged to see it are no longer around.

They may not have seen Woods when he won his fourth green jacket a short time later with a playoff putt on the 18th hole.

But they were there to see The Shot, erupting in a raucous celebration when it dropped.

The shot instantly became a Masters classic, joining moments like Larry Mize chipping in to beat Greg Norman in a play-off in 1987 or the shot that stuck on the slippery bank of the 12th hole that allowed Fred Couples to win in 1992.

Long before television, Gene Sarazen’s 4-wood for a double-eagle on the 15th hole helped define the young Masters tournament in 1935.

Woods was crouched over, as if he were deep in prayer, as the ball travelled its last few inches toward the hole. When it fell, he raised himself up, yelled and began high-fiving caddie Steve Williams.

DiMarco suspected something magical might be happening.

“He made a great chip. Great imagination,” DiMarco said. “I was over there expecting him to make it. You expect the unexpected.”

Woods remembered Davis Love III making a similar shot in 1999, but his was more difficult because it was up against the deeper rough. Afraid he might hit it fat because of the lie, he told himself to hit it hard enough to get up the slope and take his chances from there.

“A lot of it is luck, but I hit it pretty good,” Woods said. “I hit it right on the spot.” The ball hit, checked up and caught the slope before taking a right angle turn toward the hole. It was still about 25 feet left of the hole when it began rolling slowly toward the pin.

The ball began losing speed as it neared the hole, slowing almost so much that the word “TIGER” could be read on the side. It made what seemed like two final turns, then stopped on the edge of the cup, teetering ever so slightly as if trying to defy gravity.

“I think under the circumstances it’s one of the best I’ve ever hit,” said Woods.