Top 10 shots in the history of The Masters
By Luke Norris
5. Phil Mickelson, 13th hole (2010)
The 2010 Masters was a crazy tournament and that was evident on the first day when 50-year-old Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champ, led the way with an opening-round 66 and right behind him was 60-year-old Tom Watson, the owner of two green jackets, who fired a 67. Also in that group at 5-under was Phil Mickelson, who had gotten the major championship monkey off his back at Augusta in 2004 (yes, that putt would be on the list).
Mickelson had also won The Masters in 2006 and was looking to add to his ever-increasing total of big victories. He shot a second-round 71, putting him at 6-under and two behind leaders Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. Mickelson couldn’t get much going in his third round but an amazing eagle-eagle-birdie run on 13, 14 and 15 got him right back in the mix and he finished with a 5-under 67, just one shot back of Westwood heading into the final round.
While Mickelson shot par after par after par to open his final round, Westwood would trade birdies and bogeys and K.J. Choi would shoot up the leaderboard with some great play on his first nine and found himself just one shot behind heading to the back. After 11 holes, Mickelson and Choi were tied at 12-under with Westwood still lurking at -11. Choi would make a disastrous bogey at the par-5 13th to drop back one and Mickelson would birdie the 12th.
Mickelson came to the tee at 13 looking to slam the door on his competitors. Unfortunately, he hit his tee shot off to the right into the pine straw and was likely looking at a pitchout. He had just 207 yards to the hole but was behind a pine tree but since when has something like that stopped Phil Mickelson from going for it? Seeing his window, Lefty took out a 6-iron and hit a towering shot right through the gap that flew the water and settled just a few feet from the hole. Okay, he missed the eagle putt but tapped in for a birdie to get to 14-under and after tacking on a couple of more birdies, he had his third Masters victory.