Greatest Shots/Number 13: Philip Reid continues his look at some of golf's greatest shots. This time he checks out Seve Ballesteros in the 1983 Ryder Cup.
Lest we dare forget. Seve Ballesteros was the master of recovery, the player who could produce a shot that would never, ever enter the head of a lesser mortal - and, if anyone should question such an assertion, then look no further back than to the Ryder Cup match of 1983 at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
On that second Sunday in October, in the top match of the singles, Seve Ballesteros and Fuzzy Zoeller - who was suffering from a back injury and playing in a corset - stood on the 18th tee-box. Ballesteros had taken a commanding early lead, and was seemingly cruising when three-up with seven holes to play, only for Zoeller to fight his way back into the match. Zoeller actually won four holes in a row, and it needed Ballesteros to win the 16th to draw level again.
They were all-square as they made the walk to the final tee-box, but the momentum had swung to the American. And, although both players drove into the rough on this final hole, a par five of 578 yards, Ballesteros was in much the worst place.
Zoeller, being sensible, and not wanting to aggravate his back any further, played his recovery shot back out on to the fairway. Ballesteros, though, even with his strength, could only hack his ball about 20 yards and, if people thought his lie in the rough was bad, he was faced with a third shot that had spectators and commentators alike already awarding the match to Zoeller.
It was a seemingly impossible shot. The ball, which had laboured its way out of the rough, had finished in a fairway bunker designed to catch drives. He was still 245 yards from the green, and Zoeller was some 50 yards ahead of him, on the fairway.
Ballesteros, then 26, was wearing a white shirt and his black hair, with no hints of grey, contrasted sharply with it. His facial expressions told no story. He was totally focused. He stepped purposely into the bunker and moved the crowds back on the left.
The ball was on a steep upslope, and there was murmuring in the gallery when Ballesteros called for his three-wood. People questioned his sanity. He was far too close to the face to even think about going for the green; but that is exactly what Ballesteros intended to do.
With the game slipping away, Ballesteros manufactured something truly spectacular. He aimed a high fade at the stem of the L-shaped green, opened the clubface slightly and smashed the ball out of the bunker. He made perfect contact. The ball landed softly and finished within 18 feet of the flag. He chipped and putted from the fringe for the most unlikely half, and although the USA won the match, 14 ½ to 13 ½, it was Seve's shot that had everyone talking.
Jack Nicklaus, the US captain that year, described it as "the finest shot I have ever seen". And, indeed, it was pure genius. It encapsulated all that was best about Ballesteros. His flamboyance, and his bravery. His never-say-die spirit, and his ability to pull off recovery shots that others would never even dream of.
At the end of the series, readers can vote for the Five Greatest Golf Shots Ever - the reader whose selections correspond with the shots selected by our Irish Times panel will enter a draw to win a custom fit Titleist 975J driver.
