I played a match last night and coming into 18 I was all square with my opponent.  My opponent was 35 feet away and ended up making it!  I was 15 feet away, missed it for the half of the hole and match so I ended up losing 1 down.  After the round this got us talking about some of the clutch putts we have seen over the years watching golf.  All of us are in our late 20′s and early 30′s but we have seen highlights from the biggest tournaments from the time they started to televise golf.  This got me thinking that I should share some of these putts with all of you and let you know the secret behind making a clutch putt.

So what goes into clutch putting?

1 – Confidence – Think like you’re going to make it.  If you have been following the site regularly you will see a pattern on how I talk about positive thinking and what it will do for you.

2 -  Focus on your breathing and getting your heart rate down.  Be sure to take deep long breaths as this will help you slow your heart rate down.

3 – Visualize – The link is on the pre-shot routine but you can adopt this routine for your putting.  Visualizing  can be tied to confidence but visualize the putt going in and your reaction and feelings after wards.

4 – Make sure your technique and green reading is a good as it can be by clicking on the links which will direct you to my posts on those two areas.

5 – Practice!  You will not become a good putter without practice.  Have putting competitions with your friends on the practice green before a round.

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Tiger Woods – #18 Final Round of the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines

I’m sure all of you know the scenario here but Tiger had played the whole week on a bad left knee and came to the 72nd hole Sunday needing this putt to tie an unlikely candidate in Rocco Mediate and take part in Monday’s 18 hole playoff.

The crazy thing about this putt is how many times it bounced on the green.  There is a great view of this at exactly 1 minute into the video.  When Tiger was asked about what was going through his head at the time “I was just thinking about making the putt the whole time walking up to the green and while reading the putt”.

Jack Nicklaus – #17 Final Round 1986 Masters

At the age of 46 nobody expected Jack Nicklaus to win another major let alone compete with the likes of Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Nick Price or Seve Ballesteros.  It had been 6 years since Jack last won a Major and he was looking like he wouldn’t win another.  Entering the final round Jack was 4 shots behind Greg Norman with 6 guys ahead of him.  After 9 holes Jack had posted a 35 and kept himself in the tournament.  No one expected him to fire a 5 under par 30 on the back nine to capture his 18th and final Major.  That 30 was capped of by this stroke of brilliance on the 17th green.

Payne Stewart – #18 Finaal Round 1999 US Open at Pinehurst #2

At the 1998 US Open Payne just missed out on his chance to add a second US Open title to his name.  Payne had a big lead heading into the final round and look destined to win but Lee Janzen’s 68 in the final round bettered his final score by 1.  On the 15th hole Payne suffered a bogey and hitting a perfect tee shot down the fairway only to end up in a sand filled divot.

The next year Payne was determined to win after his poor luck the previous year.  In the final round he dueled with Phil Mickelson who was searching for his first Major.  On the final hole Payne had a one shot lead over Phil and proceeded to hit his ball in the long rough off the tee.  From only 190 yards he decided to lay up to a yardage where he could hit a full wedge into the green.  He hit and average shot to 15 feet but he gave himself a putt to win as Phil could not make birdie.  Payne calmly stepped up and rolled in what I believe is the most clutch putt I have seen.  At 1:25 into this video you can see the putt and how much it meant to Payne.

What are some other clutch putts that I am missing?  Tiger’s putt on #18 to force a playoff with Bob May at the 2000 PGA is another one I would throw into the mix.