5. Charlie Woods at PNC Championship
● Yes, we’re starting out with an 11 year-old who isn’t even on the PGA Tour. But guess what? I don’t care because it’s technically a PGA Tour event. “Tiger Cub” did not disappoint golf fans expectations and in fact probably only boosted them after Charlie made his first ever eagle after an unreal second shot from 178 yards out to about 3 feet. I don’t care how old/young, strong/weak you are, that’s incredible.
4. Fried Egg at East Lake
● Colin Morikawa found his second shot pan fried in the left green-side bunker on the first hole of the third round at the Tour Championship. He approached his ball on an upslope with his left foot a few feet higher than his right. Swinging through while choking up on the club, the 2020 PGA Championship winner gave it a few checks and let his ball ride all the way to the center of the cup for a 47 foot birdie. This is one of those shots you need to see to believe. I’m still not sure it actually happened...
3. DJ Forces a Playoff
● Welcome to the Fedex Cup Playoffs where the pairings are made up and the points are the only thing that matters. Anyway, Dustin Johnson pulled up to the 18th green, one shot back of the lead to force a playoff with Jon Rahm. Johnson had himself a 43 foot putt that went about 2 feet downhill over a ridge. He struck his ball that twisted and turned more times than driving up a mountain in an animated cartoon at the exact speed it needed to reach the cup for birdie and rare emotionally fist pump from the 36 year-old.
2. Drive for Show, Putt for Dough
● Hole 16 at Harding Park is one of two drive-able par 4’s at 294 yards, slightly downhill and includes green-side bunkers. Most players choose to layup just short of the green on the left side and take their short chips and hopefully one putt for birdie. However, in the final round of a dreary and rather windy day in San Francisco, Morikawa aimed to take full advantage of this hole. The leader took out a driver and smashed a low cut while bouncing and rolling up 7 feet short of the pin. He went on to one-putt for eagle essentially sealing his victory bringing him his first major victory of his young career. It’s almost impossible to not have this shot included in the best of the best shots of 2020.
1. Hold Up, Wait a Minute
● Jon Rahm may have been one of the hottest players on tour this year next to guys like DJ, Webb, Bryson, and Thomas but it was with this shot that he nailed himself in the top spot of 2020. In the first hole of the playoffs in the BMW Championship against Dustin Johnson, both players were on in two, but Rahm had substantially harder putt across the green than his competitor. The Spainard was the first to go hoping to just get it within a few feet from the hole but he did much more than that. The ball made all sorts of movements in a very similar pattern to DJ’s just moments before and rotated right in the hole to win the BMW Championship. If you haven’t seen this shot yet, you need to go to your local library (bring your library card), and search “Jon Rahm Epic Putt”.