> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.grumpybuck.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The 5 Greatest Tour Championship Moments in Golf History - URL: https://www.grumpybuck.com/the-5-greatest-tour-championship-moments-in-golf-history/ - Published: 2026-08-30T01:23:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-30T01:23:12.000Z - Description: A man hitting from inside a lake for $11 million. A wedge disappearing from 137 yards. And the single loudest walk in modern golf history. The five greatest Tour Championship moments ever. - Author: Brad Riddell - Tags: Golf, Top 5, Sports History *The Tour Championship is golf's strangest major event — a 30-man season finale where the money is enormous, the stakes are contrived, and yet somehow it keeps producing moments as raw as anything at Augusta. A man hitting from inside a lake for $11 million. A wedge disappearing from 137 yards. And the single loudest walk in modern golf history.* --- ## 5\. 1987: Tom Watson Wins the First One — and Ends His Drought ![Tom Watson at the 1987 Nabisco Championship at Oak Hills — the win that ended the drought](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-watson-1987.jpg) Tom Watson at the 1987 Nabisco Championship at Oak Hills — the win that ended the drought The inaugural edition — then called the Nabisco Championship — at Oak Hills in San Antonio gave the brand-new "season finale" concept instant credibility. **Tom Watson**, winless in three long years and dogged by whispers that the yips had taken the greatest closer of his era, birdied the **72nd hole** on November 1, 1987 to beat golf's best 30 players. The finale had its first signature moment, and Watson had proof there was still magic left. The 6-iron from his approach still hangs in the Oak Hills pro shop — a season-ender that doubled as a resurrection. ![San Antonio Light, Nov 2, 1987: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-tc-salight-1987.jpg) San Antonio Light, Nov 2, 1987: "Tom's terrific at Oak Hills" — Watson ends the drought ## 4\. 2009: Phil Wins the Battle, Tiger Wins the $10 Million ![Two trophies, one confused crowd: Phil with the Tour Championship hardware, Tiger with the FedEx Cup — 2009](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-phil-tiger-2009.jpg) Two trophies, one confused crowd: Phil with the Tour Championship hardware, Tiger with the FedEx Cup — 2009 The funniest split decision in golf history. **Phil Mickelson** closed with a 65 to charge from four back and win the Tour Championship by three. **Tiger Woods** made two late birdies to finish second — which was all he needed to clinch the FedEx Cup and its **$10 million bonus**. Cue the awkward double trophy ceremony, and Phil's perfect deadpan: *"He gets the $10 million and I get $1 million."* The optics were so confusing that the Tour eventually blew up the format entirely — today's staggered-start scoring exists largely because of this afternoon. ## 3\. 2016: Rory's 137-Yard Dagger ![Rory McIlroy erupts at the 2016 Tour Championship](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-mcilroy-2016.jpg) Rory McIlroy erupts at the 2016 Tour Championship Trailing on the back nine on Sunday, **Rory McIlroy** landed a wedge from **137 yards** on East Lake's par-4 16th, watched it hop twice and vanish for eagle, and detonated — a fist-pumping, roaring reaction worthy of the $10 million swing it was. A birdie at 18 completed a 64 and forced a three-way playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell, and Rory won it with a birdie on the **fourth extra hole** to claim his first FedEx Cup. The hole-out remains the single best shot swing in the event's history — one swing worth eight figures. ![Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 26, 2016: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-tc-ajc-2016.jpg) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 26, 2016: "McIlroy captures it all" ## 2\. 2011: Bill Haas Plays From Inside the Lake ![Bill Haas with both trophies — the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, 2011](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-haas-trophies-2011.jpg) Bill Haas with both trophies — the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, 2011 The greatest recovery shot ever hit for money. On the **second playoff hole** against Hunter Mahan, **Bill Haas** pulled his approach into the edge of the pond left of East Lake's 17th green — ball half-submerged, tournament apparently over. Instead, Haas took his stance in the water, splashed it out blind… **to tap-in distance**. He won on the next hole, and because the FedEx Cup scenarios broke his way, that one splash was worth the Tour Championship *and* the Cup — a payday north of **$11 million**. Golfers have been asked to recreate that shot for a decade. Nobody, including Haas, quite believes it went where it went. ![Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 26, 2011: Bill Haas with both trophies](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-tc-ajc-2011.jpg) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 26, 2011: Bill Haas with both trophies ![Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan in 2011 — the season the FedEx Cup came down to a water shot. Photo: Hone Morihana, CC BY 2.0](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-tiger-mahan-2011.jpg) Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan in 2011 — the season the FedEx Cup came down to a water shot. Photo: Hone Morihana, CC BY 2.0 ## 1\. 2018: Tiger's Walk ![The 72nd green at East Lake, Sept 23, 2018 — the crowd that followed Tiger up the fairway](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-tiger-walk-2018.jpg) The 72nd green at East Lake, Sept 23, 2018 — the crowd that followed Tiger up the fairway The moment that transcends the sport. **Tiger Woods** — five winless years, four back surgeries, a career twice given up for dead — led wire-to-wire at East Lake and marched up the 72nd hole with the tournament in hand. Then the ropes gave way. Thousands of fans flooded the fairway behind him, phones up, sprinting, chanting, an ocean of people carrying one man to the green. Playing partner Rory McIlroy called it *"beautiful pandemonium."* Woods closed out an 11-under win, two clear of Billy Horschel, for **victory No. 80** — his first since 2013\. Seven months later he won the Masters, but the East Lake walk was the moment everyone realized it was actually, truly back. ![Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 24, 2018: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-tc-ajc-2018.jpg) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept 24, 2018: "Tiger Caps Comeback" --- ## Honorable Mentions ![The FedEx Cup. Photo: Steve Burns, CC BY 2.0](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/tc-fedex-cup.jpg) The FedEx Cup. Photo: Steve Burns, CC BY 2.0 **2008: Camilo Villegas outduels Sergio García** in a playoff at East Lake — Spiderman's breakout at full crawl. **2019: Rory McIlroy wins the first staggered-start Tour Championship**, making sense at last of the mess 2009 created. *What's the best Tour Championship finish you've watched — and does Haas's water shot beat Tiger's walk for you?*