3. Phil Mickelson, 2010, 13th hole
Phil Mickelson played the 2010 Masters with a lot of emotion. Earlier that year both his wife, Amy, and mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and he wasn’t sure whether they would be able to make it to Augusta National that week. But Amy managed to come, and she got to witness him hit a miraculous shot that few players would’ve even attempted.
Mickelson stepped to the tee on the par-five 13th after making birdie on the 12th to take sole possession of the lead from K.J. Choi. Lee Westwood was two shots back. Mickelson, though, left his drive to the right of the fairway, leaving him on the pine straw between two trees and facing a near-certain layup. For most players, anyway. But Mickelson isn’t most players, and he decided to go for the green.
“The gap wasn’t huge, but it was big enough, you know, for a ball to fit through,” he said later. “I just felt like, at that time, I needed to trust my swing and hit a shot, and it came off perfect.”
Mickelson took out a six-iron and fit the ball between the trees, over the tributary of Rae’s Creek and onto the putting surface, just five feet away for an eagle. While he missed the eagle putt, Mickelson tapped in for another birdie to get to 14-under and a two-shot lead over Westwood. He went on to win his third Masters title at 16-under, three ahead of Westwood.