There is no real way to qualify the greatest putt of all time. You could go for the longest putt ever noted or the one achieved under the most difficult circumstances.
The longest ever televised putt is generally credited to someone who is not even a golf professional! During a televised pro-am tournament in 1980, Terry Wogan (he of Children in Need fame), holed a putt at Gleneagles which was 33 yards (30.2m).
Other great putts can be those made when under the most pressure. Anyone trying to putt for a major title could comment on what this feels like. Tiger Woods has made many of these putts, so has Seve, Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino and so on.
I guess it depends on what your favourite Major is as to what you might think is the greatest putt ever. Who can forget Darren Clarke at the Ryder Cup or Nick Faldo at the US Masters, or Tiger Woods at the US Open.
Other putts can be great because the golfer was fighting against the elements. You only have to watch the golf crazy film Caddyshack to see Bishop Pickering (Henry Wilcoxon) playing in atrocious weather but still managing to hole putts left, right and centre!
Some great putts are not really putts at all. Am I the only one who remembers an interview that Steve Rider did with the all time great Severiano Ballesteros? Steve Ryder was talking about putting and Seve, on his home course, put his putter in front of the ball, raised the putter backwards, so lifting the ball on the back of it, raised it right round over his head before letting the ball go towards the hole – where it promptly fell in the cup!
If you are an “arm chair golfer” any of the above may rank in your list of the greatest putts ever. If, on the other hand, you are one of those brave souls that walk out on a golf course with any regularity then surely the greatest putt you have ever seen is one of your own! We all have fond memories of those putts we have made that we never thought possible. The ones that our playing partners reacted to with either incredulity, shock or slaps on our backs – a resounding “well done”.
The greatest putt ever…….awaits us on our next round of golf.
