The decade in golf: NCG’s favourite moment

Dan MurphyAlex PerrySteve CarrollMark Townsend

Of all the great and good moments from the past 10 years, our Fourball team try to narrow things down to the greatest single moment

What was your single HUGE moment from the past decade in golf that sticks out in your memory?

Dan: While trying to avoid recency bias, I know that Suzann Pettersen’s retirement on absolutely her own terms will take some beating. What strength of mind, what determination, and what resolution to get her game back in shape for one last hurrah, hole the winning putt in the decisive match (putting having always been her weakest suit, diplomacy aside) and then retire the next day. We’d all like to leave on our own terms but this took the biscuit.

Alex: Tiger Woods’ getting No. 15 at the Masters left me far more emotional than any golf moment ever has – and I include the Ryder Cup in that.

But I want to give a shout out to the the UK and Ireland major champions of the decade – Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Justin Rose, Danny Willett and Shane Lowry.

Nothing like seeing homegrown talent beat the best, but it was McIlroy’s maiden major that stands out. To recover from his Masters meltdown and win by eight at the US Open just two months later was mind boggling. A proper “I was there” moment. (I wasn’t there, I was in my flat in Wimbledon.)

decade in golf

Steve: Poulter’s Saturday afternoon heroics at Medinah will always be the best hour of golf I’ve ever watched. But, if you are asking me about being there in the flesh, it’s hard to beat the atmosphere on the 1st tee at Le Golf National on Sunday in 2018. I’ve never seen anything like that on a golf course – and doubt I will again. Honourable mention to Lowry at the Open, too. To be in the crowds on the fairway as an Irishman won the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland was almost perfect. There were people around me in tears. What a moment.

Mark: This is so obvious but Medinah was nuts and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, let alone decade. I couldn’t sleep until about 6am on the Sunday morning thinking about ‘Poults’ and the singles permutations and when my wife asked me what was wrong all I could mumble was ‘I genuinely think we could actually win this..’ which remains a low point in our relationship.

I was so giddy for pretty much eight hours and there was no low point to temper any of my disequilibrium – I still watch the Miracle At Medinah at least once a month and enjoy every moment seven years on. I’m welling up now at just the thought of Seve and Olly and what they meant to that crop of heroes.

What was your favourite moment in the past 10 years? 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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