Greatest Shots: Number 18:    It's true,that not all the great shots are hit by the great players; but most of them are, writes Philip Reid

Byron Nelson: 1951 Bing Crosby Pro-am, Cypress Point.

It's also true that not all the great players choose major championships for such great shots because, once they're in a tournament, you'll find that they try their hardest on every shot. It's what sets them apart, what makes them the greatest.

Such was the case in the 1951 Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Cypress Point. Byron Nelson had formally announced his retirement in 1946, but coaxed by the singer, he emerged for one last tournament - and it was as if he had never left the competitive arena.

For most of the first two rounds, Nelson played a string of powerful drives and supremely accurate approach shots and, as he walked to the 17th tee in that second round, he was in the customary position of leading a tournament.

The 17th at Cypress Point, however, is a hole that is among the greatest in the world. Designed by Dr Alister Mackenzie, it is a par four dogleg where the tee-shot must carry 200 yards of the Pacific Ocean.

But there is no respite. The hole angles right, skirting the cliff face all the way to the green and, while the brave may cut off as much of the water as they dare, the drive is complicated for conservative souls by the presence of a copse of cypress trees in the middle of the landing area, about 250 yards out.

So it is that the player on the tee has a number of options. One is to take an iron and play it well short of the trees, leaving a two or three-iron over them to the green; another is to drive past the trees to the left, increasing the dogleg but allowing an unimpeded mid-iron approach shot to the green; while another option is to gamble with the tee-shot to the right of the trees, cutting off much of the ocean and leaving a short-iron to the green.

The one place not to be is directly behind the cypress trees. And, on this particular day, that is precisely where Nelson found himself. He had tried to play safely to the left but pushed the ball slightly, so that it finished up in the shadows cast by the trees.

As he approached his ball, he at first believed there was nothing to do but to play a short iron over the trees and then another pitch to the green and hope for a one-putt par.

But as Nelson stood over his ball, another thought struck him. As it tends to do on this exposed point, a strong wind was blowing in off the Pacific and a different kind of high-risk play came into Nelson's mind.

"I knew if I could hit a huge hook out over the water that the gale might just turn it back hard enough and fast enough for the ball to catch the green," he was to recall later.

Nelson took a three-iron from his bag and, in addressing the ball, he took aim out over the cliffs. When his playing partner Eddie Lowery saw what he was intending to do, he started to run towards Nelson and shouted for him to stop. It was too late.

Nelson's backswing had transferred into a down swing that resulted in a pure strike that saw the ball head towards the wild sea. "It hung out there, some 25 yards out, for what seemed like a full minute," Nelson said.

"Then, just as I had planned, it drew sharply back in. It must have hooked 40 yards." When the ball returned to earth, it rolled to within 12 feet of the flag.

As it worked out, however, Nelson two-putted for a comfortable par and he went on to win the tournament by one stroke. It was the last of Nelson's 54 career wins, and provided him with the greatest risk-and-reward shot of that illustrious career.

At the end of the series, readers can vote for the Five Greatest Golf Shots Ever - the reader whose selections correspond with the shots selected by our Irish Times panel will enter a draw to win a custom fit Titleist 975J driver.