We hear it all the time: Technology is changing the way golf is played.
From driver heads the size of cantaloupes to specially made putters based on individual strokes, today's pros have certain technological advantages over those of a generation ago. Among them is the invention of the hybrid -- or rescue club -- which gives players an option between fairway woods and long irons.
In 2009, these clubs had a major impact at a few major championships, resulting in the two best -- and most clutch -- shots of the year. Think about it: If faced with similar situations just a decade ago, Y.E. Yang and Brittany Lincicome each may have been befuddled by a choice between 5-wood or 3-iron and, well, their victories may not have happened.
Talk about an advantage, huh?
One caveat before introducing the entire list for '09: No putts. Consider it a new rule for this edition of the Shots of the Year. Apologies to Tiger Woods (who won at Bay Hill with a bomb), Eun-Hee Ji (who clinched the U.S. Women's Open with a 12-foot knee-knocker) and Stewart Cink (who forced an eventual Open Championship playoff against Tom Watson with a 15-footer on the final hole of regulation), but there were so many solid swings this season that crucial strokes with the flatstick only receive honorable mention.
Without further ado, here are the best and, in some cases, luckiest shots of 2009 (we're looking at you, Angel).
1. Y.E. Yang
The situation: PGA Championship, final round, par-4 18th hole, second shot
The shot: Ben Hogan hit the most famous 1-iron in golf history, an approach into the final hole at Merion that later helped him win the 1950 U.S. Open. In the same tournament 45 years later, Corey Pavin used a famous 4-wood to triumph at Shinnecock. And now? Yang's approach using a 3-iron hybrid must be considered the most monumental shot to date with one of these sticks, as he knocked a 210-yarder down the left side of Hazeltine's final hole to 8 feet, sealing a come-from-behind victory over Tiger Woods.
Yang's take: "I actually aimed it that way. I thought that if it didn't make a huge hook, if I aimed truly and it landed where I was going to hit it, then I had a good chance to win and seal the deal."
2. Brittany Lincicome
The situation: Kraft Nabisco Championship, final round, par-5 18th hole, second shot
The shot: They have been playing major championships since 1860, but according to all records, not once in these tournaments -- men's or women's -- has a player eagled the final hole to come from behind for a victory. Until this year, that is, when the player known as "Bam Bam" parlayed a 275-yard drive into a 210-yard second shot over water.
With the ball in the air, Lincicome said, "Please be good," but it wasn't. It was great. The ball found the upper part of the green, then curled to within 4 feet of the cup for history.
Lincicome's take: "The hybrid is in my hands. My hands are shaking and my heart is racing. I'm trying to calm myself down by breathing or singing or whatever I can possibly do, and right when I hit it, it came off on the clubface exactly where we wanted to hit it and took the slope like I wanted it to and came really close, thank God. If I had to make anything further than that, my hands were shaking so bad, I was almost crying, the fans were so great and cheering for me and just walking up there was a great feeling."
The situation: NCAA Championship, final round, par-4 18th hole, second shot
The shot: The newly revamped NCAA Championship found Texas A&M squaring off against Arkansas in the final match. Tied at two matches apiece, it all came down to the last one, which looked to be going in the Aggies' favor until No. 1 player Burgoon lost four holes in a row to square the match heading into the 18th hole.
After driving it into the right rough and watching his opponent find the fairway and green, Burgoon hit the collegiate shot of the year, nearly holing out for eagle to give Texas A&M the overall team title.
Burgoon's take: "Andrew Landry was my opponent from Arkansas. He hit it right down the middle, like he was doing all day. I sprayed it way right. He hit to the front middle of the green, so he had about 35, 40 feet for birdie, and I was right rough. And I just hit probably the best shot of my life and it rolled -- I mean, it nearly went in. It stopped about two inches away from the hole to give us the national championship, so it was pretty exciting."
4. Tiger Woods
The situation: Presidents Cup, Saturday foursomes match, par-5 18th hole, second shot
The shot: Woods wasn't even the best player on his team in this match, as Steve Stricker carried the twosome most of the way until his partner holed a lengthy birdie attempt on the 17th hole.
On 18, though, Tiger made up for his stagnant round, ripping a 3-iron to within eagle range on a no-doubt-about-it swing that was punctuated by a follow-through reminiscent of de facto team captain Michael Jordan. Woods finished with the club in his left hand and his right hand extended, almost like his buddy following through on a game-winning jumper.
Woods' take: "That was good. I liked that one. That was a full cut 3-iron. It actually was a good number for me. I can actually just go ahead and swing it, and I knew it wasn't going to be too much club."
5. Vijay Singh
The situation: The Masters, practice round, par-3 16th hole
The shot: Call it a tradition at Augusta National. In fact, call it a tradition unlike any other. During practice rounds for the Masters, competitors will first hit shots from the regular teeing ground on No. 16, then meander over to the edge of the pond and attempt to skip balls across and onto the green.
The 2000 champion went one better this year, using three skips to get through the hazard, then watching as his ball went up the embankment, onto the right side of the green, took a left-hand turn and fell into the hole for the most unlikely unofficial ace observers have ever witnessed.
Watch from three different vantage points here, here, and here.
The situation: PGA Championship, second round, par-5 15th hole, second shot
The shot: If hitting a shot 301 yards from the upslope of a fairway bunker while nearly slipping and getting it to pin-high doesn't sound like a miraculous shot, then just ask Harrington's playing partner. Tiger Woods called it one of the best bunker shots he had ever seen.
In fact, Woods was so impressed that he told Harrington he would have paid to see that one. So what did Paddy tell him? "I asked him for 50 bucks," he said.
Harrington's take: "I'd been thinking to myself, you know, weighing up the risk against the reward. Anywhere you lay up there, there was no easy place to make birdie. But obviously if I hit the shot as I did, I have a handy birdie, nearly made eagle. I was thinking if I missed a shot I might end up anyway in a pretty similar spot to where if I laid it up. So it was one of those ones that maybe because I was a couple over par, I felt let's have a go with it."
Nearly Amazing
The best shots of 2009 weren't necessarily the most memorable. Here are five that will forever live in infamy:
-- Tom Watson, The Open Championship.
At 59, the five-time Open champion was in position to become the oldest major winner ever -- by 11 years. With a 1-stroke lead, his second shot into the final green looked perfect, but bounded over the back of the putting surface. He chose to chip the next one instead of putt, but it was the par stroke, a 6-footer to win, that will be remembered, as he never gave it a chance to go in, then lost by six in the four-hole playoff.
-- Henrik Stenson, WGC-CA Championship.
The lanky Swede found his ball in a Miami mud pit, leaving him with three choices: Take an unplayable lie, get his clothes dirty or strip down to his skivvies. He chose option No. 3.
"Because of the mud, I couldn't really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes, so I had no option," he would later say. "I was only wearing two things when I hit the shot, my jocks and my golf glove ... just the way God created me!"
-- Phil Mickelson, The Masters.
On golf's ultimate stage at Augusta National, the two-time green jacket-winner was putting on a clinic for the ages, firing a front-nine 30 on Masters Sunday while paired with Tiger Woods. Mickelson would be within a shot of the lead when he pulled a 9-iron on the par-3 12th hole, tried to hit the front of the green and let it release, but instead found Rae's Creek en route to a double-bogey. He would finish 3 shots out of the three-man playoff.
-- Brandt Snedeker, BMW Championship.
On the 18th tee at the penultimate tournament of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, Snedeker confirmed with a TV announcer what he had already suspected: With a bogey on the hole, he would qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship -- which also came with a guaranteed six-figure payday and assured spots in next year's Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
Instead, Snedeker left himself with a 12-footer for par, ran it 3 feet past the hole, then missed the comebacker for bogey -- and a tap-in for double, too -- to finish with a triple-bogey 7.
-- Padraig Harrington, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Engaged in a bitter head-to-head duel with Tiger Woods, Harrington was playing near-flawless golf in the fourth round until the 16th hole, when the final pairing was inexplicably put on the clock. Later admitting he was playing rushed, the three-time major champion chipped back and forth over the green, posting a triple-bogey. He would drop 4 shots to Woods on the hole.
7. Leif Olson
The situation: Canadian Open, second round, par-3 15th hole, tee shot
The shot: You can watch every PGA Tour event for the next decade and not see another one like this.
Olson's choked-down, 9-iron tee shot at Glen Abbey bounced left of the hole, spun back, caromed off playing partner Kris Blanks' ball and took an almost 90-degree right turn into the bottom of the cup. The best part? The coincidental ace netted the rookie a BMW Z4 Roadster priced at $51,650. His 2009 earnings to that point were a comparably paltry $19,512.
Olson's take: "I was just hoping it would stay on the green. It was moving pretty fast and then it hit his ball and I was like, 'Thank God, it's staying on the green.' And then it just ricocheted to the right and it went in. It was just ridiculous."
The situation: The Masters, first playoff hole, par-4 18th hole, second shot
The shot: It's an age-old question. Is it better to be lucky or good? Sometimes, you can't have one without the other.
There's no doubt Cabrera was a bit of the former when after pushing his tee shot way right on the first extra hole against Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell, he somehow found a small opening through the trees and got his ball back to the fairway. Of course, this shot wouldn't be nearly as memorable if he didn't get up and down for par from that point, clinching his second career major title one hole later.
Cabrera's take: "I only had a spot like this big, and only trees, so I've got to put it through there. That's it. As easy as that. "
9. Jason Hargett
The situation: Mark Eaton Celebrity Classic Million Dollar Hole-in-One Challenge
The shot: Saddled with an injury, the restaurant manager and father of four had planned on taking a pass at this 150-yard shot at Red Ledges GC for a seven-figure payday. Instead, he grabbed his 9-iron, swung and ... the rest is history.
Perhaps even better than the shot was Hargett's reaction, as he sprinted the length of the hole, only to be tackled short of the green by friend and former BYU quarterback Robbie Bosco. The ace will net the Utah resident $25,000 per year for the next 40 years.
Hargett's take: "After I hit it, I'm like, 'Gosh, that could have a chance.' When it started spinning diagonally in, I was like, 'Holy crap! This is not happening.' And then all of a sudden, it disappears. I just couldn't believe it."
10. Shane Lowry
The situation: Irish Open, second playoff hole, par-5 18th hole, second shot
The shot: It took nearly a century for Hollywood to create a movie about 1913 U.S. Open champion Francis Ouimet, but Lowry may not have to wait that long.
Like the Brookline, Mass., native, the Irishman was playing in his country's national championship in his own hometown. On the second extra hole against Robert Rock, the then-19-year-old pumped a fairway wood some 270 yards to about 8 feet in a challenging mix of rain and wind. Though he missed the eagle putt to extend the playoff for one more hole, Lowry eventually defeated Rock to earn an entirely unlikely title in front of the home folks.
Lowry's take: "It was perfect, like 240 to the front of the green, 270 to the pin. I just hit a hard 3-wood and slight off to the left-hand side of the left bunker and the wind just blank it in and kind of drifted a bit too much but caught the pitch perfect and rolled around to maybe eight feet. I actually thought it was at the front of the green when I hit it because the crowd came across and I couldn't see where it finished."
11. Brendon Todd
The situation: Athens Regional Foundation Classic, first and second rounds, par-3 17th hole, tee shot
The shot: In the opening round of this Nationwide Tour event, Todd used a 7-iron to ace the 157-yard hole. Ho-hum. No big deal, right? Right ... well, until the next day. That's when the product of nearby University of Georgia pulled an 8-iron from a teeing ground 10 yards closer and found the exact same result, becoming the first player in Nationwide Tour history to ace the same hole twice in the same tournament.
Todd's take: "I had just come off a bogey and so I wasn't in a great mood when I stepped on the tee. I wasn't even thinking about making it. It was a perfect yardage and I flagged it. It looked pretty good in the air and then landed about 4 feet short and left of the hole and rolled in the back of the cup. I guess I played the break perfectly.''
12. Tiger Woods
The situation: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, final round, par-5 16th hole, third shot
The shot: There aren't many players who have a sky-high 178-yard 8-iron in their bags ... then again, there aren't many players named Tiger Woods, either. When this rainmaker finally landed, it spun back about 10 feet and stopped just inches from the cup, ensuring birdie and Woods' seventh conquest at Firestone. Special commendation goes to his similar 7-iron from 183 yards on the final hole of the Memorial Tournament to about a foot, which was every bit as good as this one.
Woods' take: "I figured it was a full 8-iron and don't draw it, make sure and use the wind a little bit to get it there. When I hit it I knew it was going to be a good one. I thought it was going to be just a little bit past the hole. I was surprised it spun that much considering it was that much downwind. But it came back and ended up a kick-in."
13. Pat Perez
The situation: Bob Hope Classic, final round, par-5 18th hole, second shot
The shot: It would be nice if risk-reward situations paid off more frequently, but the truth is, conservatism sometimes wins golf tournaments. Well, Perez doesn't do conservative.
Faced with a second shot over water but with the wind at his back on the 90th and final hole in the year's first PGA Tour event on the mainland, the guy in search of his first career victory simply ripped an iron shot at the hole without thinking about another alternative. In fact, the shot itself may not have been as entertaining as the post-round comments from one of the game's straight shooters.
Perez's take: "I don't lay up. I hit a 6-iron. I mean how hard is it? It's downwind. You've got 100 yards to hit it up there. I'm not going to lay up with an L wedge over here and hit L wedge over here. It's 6-iron. I was going to hit it. ... I don't think I could have hit that shot again, to be honest with you. Even if I had to do it, I couldn't hit it again. There's no way, because the wind was swirling and the whole deal, and I couldn't hit that shot again. It's a long time coming, and I'm going to enjoy it."
14. Rory McIlroy
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The situation: Dubai Desert Classic, final round, par-5 18th hole, fourth shot
The shot: Up five strokes with four to play, the 19-year-old was leaking oil down the stretch in Dubai, his lead pared down to a single shot going to the final hole. After laying up with his second to 75 yards, McIlroy tried to hit one 80 and spin it, but instead flew it 85 yards into the back bunker. Faced with a downhill lie to a front-sloping pin position, the kid from Holywood, Northern Ireland, blasted to within a few feet of the hole and cleaned up for par to earn his first of what promises to be many titles during his career.
McIlroy's take: "Even in those casual situations, it's a tough bunker shot. But to have to get it up-and-down to win ... it was probably the best shot I've hit under pressure."
15. Peter Hanson
The situation: U.S. Open qualifying, second playoff hole, par-3 17th hole, tee shot
The shot: Playing in the qualifier at Walton Heath, Hanson was one of seven players to reach a playoff for five spots in the field. On the first extra hole, four of 'em -- Jose Manuel Lara, Jean-Francois Lucquin, Johan Edfors and Francesco Molinari -- made birdie, punching their tickets to Bethpage.
That left Hanson, Richard Bland and Stephen Gallacher battling for the final spot ... but it didn't take long to determine the winner. Using a 6-iron from 207 yards, Hanson carded an ace to qualify for his third U.S. Open, where he later finished in a share of 18th place.
Hanson's take: "This game is just so stupid sometimes. Obviously, I am delighted to get through, but to do it like that is unbelievable. We were between clubs on the tee, but I thought that I would go for a full 6-iron and play for the middle of the green. You need a bit of luck with any hole-in-one, and I got my share today."
16. Kenny Perry
The situation: The Masters, final round, par-3 16th hole, tee shot
The shot: If Perry didn't finish bogey-bogey, if he closed out the tournament to earn the green jacket, if he became the oldest major winner in history, this may have gone down as one of the defining shots in Masters history. Instead, it was the beginning of the end, as this near-ace would be the last solid swing of the day for the 48-year-old. Even so, with the tourney on the line and pressure in the air, Perry's shot was a thing of beauty.
Perry's take: "If y'all watched me, I looked like Gary Player. I hit it and took off after it and was walking immediately behind it, because I knew I hit it perfect. I knew it was going right in that slot to where it was going to spin down to the hole, and the crowd was going to go crazy. I didn't realize it was like four inches or whatever. So I knew when they were all standing up and cheering, I knew it was close."
17. Jamie Lovemark
The situation: Frys.com Open, first playoff hole, par-4 18th hole, second shot
The shot: In the initial extra hole of a three-man playoff, Lovemark -- needing victory to secure his playing privileges for 2010 -- pushed his approach shot and saw it splash in the water hazard just to the right of the green. Like something out of the final scene of a poorly written golf movie, though, his ball hit a concrete barrier under the water's surface and popped back onto the grass next to the green. From there, he got up and down for par to keep hopes alive for another 10 minutes before Troy Matteson won the playoff one hole later.
Lovemark's take: "I knew par wasn't gonna win the playoff, so I was trying to hit it close. I was trying to go right at it and just jaw it in there. I was mad I didn't hit a good shot. I thought I made a good swing."
18. Briny Baird
The situation: Exhibition event
The shot: Of all the shots on this list, none earned golf fans any sort of tangible reward -- except this one.
As part of a promotional exhibition for sponsor P.F. Chang's, Baird attempted 10 shots from the roof of the Omni Hotel in San Diego, 34 floors above ground level, to a bull's-eye in the right field of adjacent Petco Park. The longtime tour veteran actually knocked two shots into the target, garnering $25,000 for military families and free lettuce wraps for every single person in the country.
Baird's take: "This exceeded my expectations. With this many people on top of a roof, you don't want to make a fool of yourself. My expectations were high, but their expectations were higher."
Jason Sobel is a golf writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.
