Perfect three-wood proves right response

Greatest Golf Shots/Number 14: Gary Player, 1968 British Open: The first time Gary Player played a round of golf, as a 14-year-old, he parred the first three holes. "The rest were eight and nines, but I was hooked," Player was later to remark of that time he first accompanied his father on a course. Indeed, it was to start an obsession that was to bring him nine major championships.

In many ways, Player was unique. When he played on the US Tour in the 1960s, he travelled from tournament to tournament with his entire family - his wife, Vivienne, and their five children (a sixth wouldn't be born until the 1970s) - carrying as many as 33 bags, taking four taxis and sleeping in three bedrooms in a hotel. He had to win tournaments just to break even.

But a pattern began. There was no place he wouldn't play. He is believed to be the most well-travelled athlete ever, logging more than 12 million miles, and winning 162 tournaments worldwide.

There was something else. Without the size and brute strength of most of his competitors, Player developed an exercise routine to keep himself in the best possible physical condition. He did 1,000 sit-ups a day, many with a 70lb weight sitting on his chest.

Instead of gorging himself on dinners and desserts, he ate fruits and honey. The gusto with which he maintained his body kept him sharper for a greater length of time than arguably any other golfer. He won majors in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and is the only player to win the British Open in three decades (1959, 1968 and 1974).

"People see that he's not a big man. There's truth in David and Goliath in that you got a golf club, you got a golf ball and if you're determined and work extremely hard, you can make it doing this," Lee Trevino once said.

At 59, he made the cut at the 1995 British Open, and at 62, he made the cut at the 1998 Masters - the oldest player to do so in each tournament's history.

Next weekend, he tees it up in the final qualifying (his exemption finished when passed the age of 65) at Gullane for next week's championship at Murifield.

During his British Open win at Carnoustie in 1968 one of his rivals coming down the stretch was Jack Nicklaus. By the time the pair came to the long 14th hole on the final day of the championship, Player had decided that Nicklaus, his playing partner, was the man he had to beat. At the time, he was sharing the lead with Bob Charles and Billy Casper, and Nicklaus was two behind.

On that 14th hole, Nicklaus confirmed how much of a threat he was. His drive had found trees but Nicklaus sent a spectacular recovery onto the green, setting up an eagle. In his heart, Player knew his response would win or lose him the championship - and the bunkers known as 'The Spectacles' were in his line of sight.

He took a three-wood from his bag, and hit a shot that he knew was good, really good. Behind the green, Henry Cotton held up his hands and used them to indicate just how close the ball had finished to the hole. Two feet! The eagle putt was a formality, and so too was victory. Player was later to describe it as his best shot ever.

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