Greatest Ryder Cup shots of all time

Make a magnificent shot in a major, and you’ll celebrate, but you’ll celebrate alone. Make a magnificent shot in a Ryder Cup, and you’ve got 11 teammates and an entire nation — or continent — behind you. Here are some of the greatest shots in Ryder Cup history, moments that transcended the golf course and became instant legends.

Paul Azinger, The Belfry, 2002

The definition of a do-or-die shot. Azinger faced Niclas Fasth with the match on the line and Azinger’s ball in the greenside bunker. Azinger blasted out of the sand and rolled the ball right into the cup, halving the hole and briefly keeping the U.S. afloat. The Europeans would go on to win, but Azinger’s shot remains an all-time icy one.

Seve Ballesteros, PGA National, 1983

Ballesteros was in the midst of reviving the Ryder Cup’s popularity among Europeans when he found himself facing Fuzzy Zoeller in singles. Ballesteros briefly held a 3up lead, but Zoeller battled back, and the two were all square on the final hole. From a fairway bunker, Ballesteros withdrew a three-wood and cleared both the bunker’s lip and the water fronting the green, parring the hole to halve the match. Europe would lose by a single point, 14 ½ to 13 ½, but the Ballesteros shot remains one of the most clutch in golf history.

Ian Poulter, Medinah, 2012

Poulter is one of the greatest Ryder Cup players ever, and shots like this are the reason why. Partnered with Rory McIlroy, Poulter birdied the final five holes of his match to win 1up and put fire into the flagging Europeans on a Saturday. The next day, the Europeans, trailing 10-6, came back to win in what they call — in Europe, anyway — the Miracle at Medinah.

Patrick Reed & Rory McIlroy, Hazeltine, 2016

Perhaps the greatest singles match ever played, McIlroy and Reed traded haymakers throughout the opening holes. None was more magnificent than the 8th, when McIlroy poured in a monster putt, taunting the crowd, but Reed dropped his right on top of McIlroy’s. Golf at its very best. The U.S. won, but McIlroy and Reed established themselves as legends.

Justin Rose, Medinah, 2012

Yes, there are two entries from Medinah on this list. It was perhaps the most remarkable Ryder Cup in history. Justin Rose drained not one, but two magnificent shots during his singles match to set up the Europeans’ victory. Against Phil Mickelson and down 1, Rose holed a 50-foot putt on 17, and followed that with another clutch putt on 18 to flip the match, win 1up and put Europe on the path to victory.

Jordan Spieth, Whistling Straits, 2021

Not a Cup-defining shot, just an amazing one: Jordan Spieth’s moon-shot approach went straight up and straight back down again, and he nearly ended up in Lake Michigan as a result. This one will follow him the rest of his days, as it should: