2019 in golf: NCG’s favourite moment of the year

Dan MurphyJoe HughesSteve CarrollMark Townsend

The past year was off-the-scale good in terms of thrills and spills and our Fourball team pick out their particular favourite bits from 2019

So, which particular moment got us all going the most in the past 12 months?

Dan: Need you ask? That would be Tiger at the Masters. I guess specifically the sight of him celebrating on the 18th green, just like the old days. You don’t normally get to turn back time and what a place to do it.

Joe: This may be a sign that I watch far too much golf but mine comes from the Magical Kenya Open of all places back in March. Up-and-coming Italian Guido Migliozzi burst onto the scene in the early stages of the season and this was where his first victory came.

He had a one-shot lead on the last and he then struck a sweet iron from the middle of the 18th fairway and very nearly holed out. I was up off the sofa hands on head, my dogs had no idea what was going on. It was so nearly the perfect finish but still, what an approach to hit on the final hole for your maiden victory.

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Steve: Tiger, Tiger but, given I don’t want to repeat myself, seeing the sheer bottle displayed by Suzann Pettersen to win the Solheim Cup for Europe was something else. I honestly don’t know how she drew the clubhead back before then producing the ultimate mic drop by announcing her retirement.

Mark: On a personal level it would be Robert Rock’s 60 on Saturday morning at Lahinch. I’d like to give him the Putt of the Decade for what he did on 17 and the smile on his little chops will stay with me for some time. Needing an eagle at the last to do an Oli Fisher he very nearly pulled the unthinkable off and the whole thing helped him to play in another Open up the road in Portrush.

2019 in golf: The biggest underachiever of 2019

What was your favourite moment of 2019? Let us know in the comments below or you can tweet us.

About the author

Dan Murphy

Dan is a lifelong golfer. He had the great fortune to grow up within 200 yards of the 5th fairway of his local 9-holer, Rawdon, in Leeds.

Dan attended his first Open Championship in 1988 at Royal Lytham. The first action he saw, peering through the crowds behind the 8th green, was Paul Broadhurst holing out from the fairway below for an eagle. Which seemed perfectly normal at the time.

Since then, he has attended a further 27 Opens. Tragically, he can recite a phenomenal number of arcane statistics about The Open – whether you ask him to or not.

Dan has a post-graduate diploma in print journalism and is an experienced writer and editor. He is also a director of NCG’s parent company.

Dan specialises in the golf courses of the British Isles and heads up NCG Top 100s course rankings. He is not unacquainted with links golf and is closing in on a lifetime tally of 700 courses played.

In a former life, Dan was NCG’s equipment editor. Currently in his bag are: Ping G440 Max driver, Ping G440 Thriver, Ping G440 4-wood, Ping iDi 3-iron, Ping Blueprint-S irons, Ping S259 wedges and a Ping Scottsdale Tec Ketsch Onset putter.

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