One-Shot Disasters: A Major Championship Hall of Shame
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One-Shot Major Hall of Shame
Remember the Slovenian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj crashing in the opening scene for ABC's Wide World of Sports, the classic weekly sports show on ABC? Bogataj became a global symbol for the agony of defeat, and it's in memory of Bogataj that we created the One-Shot Major Hall of Shame. The pros on our list were superb players, at least for a while, but they aren't remembered for their feats. Instead, they're best known for a single defeat in a major championship caused by one horrific shot that's seared into our memories.
A six-foot putt to win the Masters — every golfer imagines something like that happening to him, but only a chosen few get the opportunity. In 1979, Ed Sneed got the chance twice — once at 18 in regulation, and again at 10 on the first playoff hole — but he missed both putts. Oh, he'd also lipped out putts at 16 and 17 in regulation, leading to his bogey-bogey-bogey finish and his vanquishing a final-round five-shot lead. If just one putt on any of the last three holes, or the first playoff hole, had dropped, who knows what glory would've been in store for the then 35 year-old Sneed? Instead, Sneed took just one more PGA Tour title.
One-Shot Major Hall of Shame
Remember the Slovenian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj crashing in the opening scene for ABC's Wide World of Sports, the classic weekly sports show on ABC? Bogataj became a global symbol for the agony of defeat, and it's in memory of Bogataj that we created the One-Shot Major Hall of Shame. The pros on our list were superb players, at least for a while, but they aren't remembered for their feats. Instead, they're best known for a single defeat in a major championship caused by one horrific shot that's seared into our memories.
A six-foot putt to win the Masters — every golfer imagines something like that happening to him, but only a chosen few get the opportunity. In 1979, Ed Sneed got the chance twice — once at 18 in regulation, and again at 10 on the first playoff hole — but he missed both putts. Oh, he'd also lipped out putts at 16 and 17 in regulation, leading to his bogey-bogey-bogey finish and his vanquishing a final-round five-shot lead. If just one putt on any of the last three holes, or the first playoff hole, had dropped, who knows what glory would've been in store for the then 35 year-old Sneed? Instead, Sneed took just one more PGA Tour title.
CREDIT: Tony Triolo/SI
