A shot for the ages

Micheel's 7-iron shot on 18 is added to list of greats

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Like a walk-off home run in baseball, there are few things more dramatic or more memorable in golf than a crucial, must-make shot on the 72nd hole.

Bob Tway’s bunker shot at Inverness. Jerry Pate’s 5-iron over the lake in Atlanta. Payne Stewart’s par-saving putt at Pinehurst. Sandy Lyle’s shot from the fairway bunker and subsequent birdie at Augusta. Costantino Rocca’s impossible putt at the Old Course. To name a few.

Add another moment to the list. Consider yourself lucky if you watched the finish of the 85th PGA Championship at Oak Hills. Shaun Micheel played a shot for the ages at the par-4 18th.

One shot ahead of persistent challenger Chad Campbell, Micheel hit his approach shot first and nearly holed it. His 7-iron shot landed on the green, took one big skip, then trickled to within two inches of the cup.

The shot was nothing more than electrifying. Micheel, a 34-year-old journeyman of sorts, gave the shot an emotion-filled fist pump in reaction but didn’t react more strongly fore a simple reason -- from that distance and that angle, he couldn’t be sure exactly how close it was.

It could’ve been 3 feet, 8 feet or 6 inches. In fact, the CBS cameras caught him a few seconds later (if you could read lips) asking a cameraman, "How close is that?"

Two inches, that’s how close.

Campbell, likewise, was in the dark but was well aware he had to answer with something tight to have a chance.

"I knew I had to hit a good shot," Campbell said. "I didn’t know how close he was. I didn’t know it was an inch. That was a great shot. His shot was phenomenal."

Campbell hit one of the better approach shots to the 18th green, about 15 feet above the hole, but it paled in comparison to Micheel’s winner. As they walked up over the ridge in the fairway, they caught sight of Micheel’s ball. It was in blindfolded kick-in range. The PGA was over and Micheel was suddenly the seventh player in history to win the PGA on his first try.

If their names were Nicklaus and Watson, we’d be writing about one of the greatest duels in the sun in golf history.

The match between Micheel and Campbell was full of emotion swings on Sunday, starting at the opening hole. Micheel made a long putt, Campbell made bogey and suddenly Micheel had a two-shot swing.

There was another two-shot swing at the sixth as Micheel opened a three-shot lead, and it appeared to be over when Micheel drained a huge birdie putt at the 14th to regain a three-shot edge with four to play. Then Campbell managed a two-shot swing with a clutch birdie putt at the 15th to get within one.

Micheel made another birdie putt at 16 to pull two ahead and seemingly get a cushion, but he drove it in the rough at 17, which was practically an automatic bogey, and Campbell came to the closing hole just one shot back and with a chance ... at least until Micheel’s now-famous 7-iron.

In fact, this Micheel-Campbell duel ranks as one of the best weekend showdowns in golf. They played sizzling golf in Saturday’s third round, although they weren’t paired together and they were still largely unknown names to the public.

Campbell posted the round of the tournament, a 65, and Micheel shot 69 despite bogeys on the final three holes. Give him pars there and a 66, somebody would’ve made a connection to Nicklaus and Watson at Turnberry in 1977.

They won’t get the credit, mainly because they aren’t big names yet, but the last 36 holes was quite a show, essentially a two-day match, and one of the best you’ll see. Great golf makes a great show. Close golf makes a great show, too, as Hilary Lunke and Angela Stanford proved in the exhilarating U.S. Women’s Open finish at Pumpkin Ridge.

You don’t need superstars for a super finish. Micheel wasn’t a big name before, but now he’s on his way. And his name will join those of the other superstars whose names are engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy, players such as Walter Hagen, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods and Gene Sarazen.

"I just hope they can spell it right," Micheel said.

Don’t worry, Micheel’s little corner of immortality is safe. We’ll remember his shot at 18 for a long, long time.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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