The 5 shots that define the magic of the Masters

1. Tiger Woods, 2005, 16th hole

With the lead on the back-nine on Sunday, few of the patrons at Augusta National expected Tiger Woods to throw away the 2005 Masters. But with his tee shot at the 16th, he seemed to be doing just that.

By the time he played the 16th, Woods and Chris DiMarco had separated from the field. Earlier on Sunday, Woods had tied the Masters record in the rain-delayed third round with seven straight birdies. He took a three-shot lead over DiMarco going into the final round, but DiMarco played his first 15 holes that day in four-under to get within one heading to the par-three.

DiMarco safely found the green. But Woods’ tee shot went well over the flag, settling up against the second cut of rough. With DiMarco almost assured of a par, Woods was facing a difficult up-and-down with a chip shot on a heavily sloped green. He needed a special spot. What he got was the greatest shot in Masters history.

Woods hit his chip on top of the ridge on the green, watched it roll toward the hole, pause on the lip for a few agonizing seconds with the Nike logo visible to the entire world, then fall in for the unlikeliest of birdies. “Wow! In your life have you seen anything like that,” Verne Lundquist said on the CBS broadcast. After an awkward high-five with caddie Steve Williams, Woods found himself with a two-shot lead over DiMarco with just two to play.

Woods, however, would go on to bogey the 17th and 18th. DiMarco nearly won the tournament with his own chip shot on the 72nd hole, but his hit the edge of the cup and stayed out. They finished tied at 12-under and headed back to the 18th tee for the start of a sudden-death playoff. Woods would make quick work in the playoff, holing a 15-foot birdie putt to win his fourth Green Jacket.

Ten years later, Williams revealed just how precise Woods needed to be on that chip shot in an interview with Golf Digest.

"“After Tiger inspected the green and was walking back to his ball, he pointed out an old ball mark on the green,” Williams said. “It was the size of a dime, almost fully healed, practically invisible. He said, ‘You think if I hit that spot, it’ll take the slope without going into the bunker? I told him I liked that play … He then hit that old ball mark exactly, from 20 feet away from a tough lie. That the ball went in the hole was sort of a miracle, but hitting the old ball mark on the fly was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.”"

The 2005 title remains Woods’ last win at Augusta National.