What is the best golf you have witnessed ?

and by that I mean when you were actually there.....

The thread which mentioned Johnny Miller and his play in the mid 70's made we think about this. For me, it would be following Greg Norman when he shot a 63 at Turnberry the year he won The Open there. Incredible stuff- every iron shot was right on the pin and he hardly missed a putt. Anything under 12 feet was like a gimme !

I think he was playing with Manuel Pinero and Ray Floyd if my memory serves me right and I am pretty sure they had something like a 67 and a 69 - those scores which were impressive in their own right paled into insignificance against the golf Norman played that day.

Really great to see..........

Faldo and Woosnam, Seve and Jose Maria, 1987 Ryder Cup. Magic. Privilege to watch.

I'm going to twist this a little and not talk about a professional. After all, the OP doesn't specifiy that! Yes, i've seen some great players play here in Dubai, but the best golf i've seen (relatively, handicap allowing), in fact came from my mate.

Some friends and i went to Cyprus and thriough the course of the week we played various team and match-play comps. I drew my Aussie mate (~8hcp) in one match-play comp and he delivered a day of sublime brilliance around the greens. Off the tee and on approach, he wasn't great, but he got up and down from everywhere...and i mean everywhere. Bunkers, thick rough, behind tees, from wasteland lies. I was plodding my way round nice and steady, hitting fairways and greens, sure that his erratic tee-green play would eventually see him come unstuck. But it didn't. His eventual 4/3 win came despite the fact that he'd probably hit 1 or 2 greens at most, and in the end the relentless nature of his scrambling defeated me mentally.

Fair play to him. Like they say, it's "how many, not how". Yes, i've seen the pros and they're obvioulsy brilliant, but my mate's game was as good as i have seen in the flesh.

With my own eyes - Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Ian Baker Finch at various Opens. They were all going for it with every shot, every shot hit right at the pin, every putt running right at the hole. I don't recall seeing any of them have to make par by scrambling in those rounds - they had a chance of birdie on every hole.

I can't really answer this one because any time I go to a pro event, I tend to plonk myself down in a good vantage point and watch a few games go through before moving on to the next one. I've never actually followed anyone right round a full 18 holes.

Sandy Lyle playing the last 10 holes at Muirfield in dreadful weather 1994.

Played with a relative when he scored 11 under par on a championship course.

Tony Lema Playing the last six holes at Stan Drews, Ist round 1964 Open

Not really a big watcher live. For me, have to be the time I caddied for Richard Boxall round Long Ashton when he was just about to go pro. The first 9 holes were pretty incredible (think he was 5 or 6 under through 9) and absolutely everything was right on the stick leaving tap-ins. He nearly aced the 2nd - left a dent in the edge of the hole where it pitched.

Obviously, he didn't follow my advice round the back nine (!) and only finished -2 for the complete round.

I agree with d4s, rarely followed anyone at a pro event for 18 holes.
Did play a 4bbb against a pair including one of our assistant pros during the summer. He went round in 62 (par 69, course record 65). Got up and down from "ball washer" when he missed the odd green, and it seemed every time he had a par his partner had nett or gross birdie. We took them to 16 which was phenomenal, but it really was the best display of golf I have seen. Everyone played well but 62 was tremendous.
The next week he eagled the 18th to beat us 1 up!!!!!! Slam dunked second shot from 110 yards, when I was 3 feet away looking at birdie putt. Hey ho!

puligny wrote:I agree with d4s, rarely followed anyone at a pro event for 18 holes.
Did play a 4bbb against a pair including one of our assistant pros during the summer. He went round in 62 (par 69, course record 65). Got up and down from "ball washer" when he missed the odd green, and it seemed every time he had a par his partner had nett or gross birdie. We took them to 16 which was phenomenal, but it really was the best display of golf I have seen. Everyone played well but 62 was tremendous.
The next week he eagled the 18th to beat us 1 up!!!!!! Slam dunked second shot from 110 yards, when I was 3 feet away looking at birdie putt. Hey ho!

Oh.....guess you weren't too impressed with my round on Sunday then?

But I must have given the most generous concession you've ever seen?

D4s - I didn't want to contradict your own assessment on the eclectic thread! As for the concession it was very generous. Didn't you notice the way I laid up into the trees on 17 to help get the match all square?

puligny wrote:D4s - I didn't want to contradict your own assessment on the eclectic thread! As for the concession it was very generous. Didn't you notice the way I laid up into the trees on 17 to help get the match all square?

Yes indeed, another very generous gesture, much appreciated

The only time I've followed one guy for a full 18 was as a kid at the 93 Open and followed Greg Notman hjs ball striking and driving was exceptional that day.

Other than that Faldo at the PGA at Wentworth think it was 95/96cant remember exact year followed him for back 9, he only shot something like -3 for the round but conditions were tough and his shot selection and shot shaping was exceptional that day

Difficult to say, you often see flashes of brilliance on the course, but seldom for an entire round.
I once saw a pal of mine triple the first, only to reach the turn in three under and go on to finish 5 under. That was pretty impressive. A lot of peoples head would go down, but it was a challenge to him.

Young Rory Day1 at 2010 Open at St. Andrews, -9 ridiculously good and still left 1/2 shots out there.

Only seen a couple of pro events and never followed any one but watching Raphele Jacqueline only a few feet away hit a wide open 58 degree wedge from a tight lie over a tufty hillock onto the short side of the green to about 6-8 feet and make the putt was pretty impressive. When it landed by us we were thinking he would do well to keep it on the green and make bogie.

The other was in a pro am. Oour pro made 5 birdies on our 6 par 3s and the other he lipped out from about 9 feet. He shot 4 under I think and I only remember 3 poor shots and while he must have had a bogie somewhere, I cannot remember many where he didn't have just a tap in for par and the birdies weren't from massive distance. Just great control of the ball. Almost boring as he made it look so easy. I think the course record at the time was 5 or 6 under by Barry Lane so 4 under was pretty handy for a club pro.

The best golf I ever witnessed by actually being there was watching Monty beat Scott Hoch 5&4 in the 2002 Ryder Cup singles at The Belfry , unbelievable ! Monty was 8 under thru 14 !! He would have beaten ANYONE that day !

Ryder cup singles 2010

I remember being at Turnberry as a kid in '77 (day 1 & 2 only). I was really too young to understand the brilliance of Watson at the time, followed him for a good few holes both days as well as a young Seve. What a privilege it was to watch Watson roll back the clock a couple of years ago. Maybe it wasn't the "best" golf ever but if I'd to pick a moment from all the pro stuff I've watched. Watson on the practice days at Turnberry 2009 was a sheer joy to watch. I was as stunned as anyone that he was still in contention coming down the 72nd but really, I and the others who watched him all week that week shouldn't have been surprised at all.

Jas
I followed Watson on the 3rd day 2009, The only other time that I can recall an atmosphere like that was the closing holes of the Faldo Zinger Open.
Turnberry was jumpin on that 3rd day.!

Best:
Tiger winning the Open at TOC in 2000. Impeccable ball striking, absolute control of his game, total dominance of the field.

Worst:
Seve, sadly, at the same tournament. The only time I ever saw the great man live, and he was terrible. He even managed to hook his tee shot on 18 out of bounds.