Bubba Watson escapes from pine straw on 18th with 'best shot I've ever hit at Augusta National'

play

One of the most famous shots in golf history is the shot from the trees on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff at the 2012 Masters.

His shot with a gap wedge from deep in the woods at Augusta National went onto the 10th green. The ball settled about 10 feet from the hole and the golfer made a par to win his first green jacket.

On the 10th anniversary of that amazing shot, two-time Masters champion, and two-time winner of the tournament, Tom Watson, thinks he might have hit an even better shot in the second round.

That was the best shot I have ever hit at Augusta National, but I will be honest, not that you want to know.

After hitting his tee shot into the woods on the right side of the 18th fairway, he found his ball sitting on a stick and surrounded by leaves.

There was a piece of a branch that fell on the ground, and my ball was sitting on top of it. There were two leaves behind it that I couldn't move and two leaves touching it.

There was a small gap toward the hole when he looked up into the trees.

The highest point of the trees there was the gap. It is teed up, right? I thought I could hit that gap if I hit a pitching wedge as hard as I can straight up. I was not looking at the green.

A leaf was blown on top of the ball by the wind. He told the rules official that his ball was not moving. The rules official assured him that he wouldn't incur a penalty, and he removed the leaf.

The ball soared high into the air after the player whacked it. It got through the pine trees and bounced on the green before hitting the hole.

It caught a flyer because of the lie and the tree branch. It caught something. It went straight up and there was a wind from the gods.

The round was 1-over 73. He is 2 over after 36 holes. Regardless of what happens over the weekend, there is another indelible memory for him at Augusta National.

Nobody in the world would have tried that shot. They can tell me that they would try it. Nobody would have tried it and I believe it could have worked.