Best ball striker you have seen in person?

[lowheel]

Great thread. Hard to argue with the names that keep popping up: Couples, Price, Norman, Tiger... FWIW, here's a quote from Men in Green by Michael Bamberger in conversation with Mike Donald: "Many knowledgeable people, like Mike, will argue that nobody has ever hit a higher percentage of flush shots than Fred Couples"

 

Been to many Canadian Opens, 2007 Presidents Cup, 2013 PGA Championship and a few Web.com events. Best shot I ever saw in person was Fred Couples, 1991 Canadian Open, 16th hole at Glen Abbey. Ball was in the rough, not a great lie and semi blocked by a tree. He rifled a long iron under the branch that barely got airborne and still carried 200+ yds and rolled onto the green. Sound and flight of that shot truly was awesome. The amazing thing is, he was in the same place the next day and hit the same shot! Of course, nowadays that hole is a 360 yds drive and a wedge...

 

Other guys who stood out to me:

 

- Bob Tway, Craig Stadler and Bill Glasson in the 80's. Also saw Calc ace #3 at Glen Abbey with a pured PING BeCu Eye 2. I wanted that set so bad after that...

- Price and Couples in the 90's

- Tiger in 1996 with the Cobra driver, when he still pretty skinny. Saw him carry one 320 on old #8 at Glen Abbey, a hole they were using to measure drives. It finished 342, volunteer said it was the longest drive by 20 yds.

- O'Meara at 98 Canadian Skins in PEI, shortly after he won 2 majors

- Hank Kuehne at 2002 CPGA Championship (web.com event at the time) Hammerin' Hank is the longest I've EVER seen but I missed Viktor Schwamkrug that day

- Graham Delaet at 2013 PGA Championship. As a Canadian golfer, If only we could combine the best of Delaet and Mike Weir... Also had a front row seat to Charlie Beljan side by side with Stenson. Slight edge to Beljan that day, his iron style hybrid looks like an avg Tour driver. That said, Stenson hits gorgeous irons

 

Let's keep this thread going, I could read these stories all day. Cheers

 

He was longer than Kuehne which is saying something, absolute animal. Played several times with him in florida and felt like a child. Its a shame both got hurt.Guy averaged 337 yards off the tee over a full season like 15 years ago.Pure insanity. not a great player though

[Shallowface]

JoAnne Carner in the late 70s/early 80s. If her putting was even half of what her iron game was she never would have lost. This despite lining up every iron shot on the toe at address due to a bout of the shanks in the early 70s.

 

J.C. Snead. Again, the putting. His irons were so consistent he should have been sponsored by Xerox.

 

Tom Weiskopf. Except for his best year of 1973 when his putting caught up to the rest of his game, he suffered from that "great striker, below average putter" syndrome that seems to have plagued so many throughout their careers.

 

I got to see Sam Snead in the mid 1980s when he was past 70 years of age. He was still really good. He would have won on the Tour in his 60s except for, you guessed it, the putting.

[Mdemuth]

I haven't been to a PGA event yet, I've been to an LPGA event, but the place i saw the best ball striker in person ever?.. The driving range.

Never saw the kid before, I was kind of deflated... I thought I was making progress. Seeing him last year has made me work even harder..

 

This kid (college kid, with friends who couldn't play) was blasting driver over the driving range, and they were just starting to rise!!! at 250!!... It was insane... his trajectory was dangerous looking, freaking bullets levitating/rising steamer bombs, hissing like a pack of wild cats.... he looked like a rubber band winding up an he kept the head so low with lag you could really see this sweeping motion. I don't know the iron numbers he was hitting, but he might as well been hitting the driver, same thing, over the back.

 

Really made me notice I got a lot of work to do, I really thought I was making progress, which i am, but 260 isn't cutting it...LOL I want my ball to hiss and rise like this guy.

 

Again i've never been to a mens PGA event, so I'm sure it's typical.

[J_Tizzle]

Went to the SPGA Legends tournament in Branson, MO. Remember watching Tom Watson just blister through his entire bucket in about 10 minutes and every shot was pure. I mean he didn't even have to look at them, it was just hit hit hit hit, change clubs hit hit hit hit, change. It was incredible to watch.

 

We sat there and watched all those guys hit balls and the one that was the most inconsistent was honestly Jack, but he was horsing around with the fans and the other guys on the range, so I don't think he really cared all that much.

[BNGL]

Sat right behind Vijay and watched him go through a full bucket before his round. It was the year he won PGA with conventional putter, we saw him at the Buick just prior to the PGA. He could've hit every ball through a hallway that day it was so straight.

A friend of mine is friends with Vijay's caddie and i got to meet him and play golf with him this summer. He said Vijay's ball striking is unreal, Danny (his caddie) is no slouch himself the dude can flat out play. He has a win on the Canadian tour and will be playing in a few events this season.

 

Vijay is also one of the best people you'll ever meet. He gets a bad rap because of his past, but he's your best friend. That being said you cross him you're done. My coach used to play the Euro tour with Vijay at the same time, and when I started playing Vij made sure I know what to practice for certain courses and had a group to practice with. He's a tremendous guy.

[Obee]

Irons: Lee Trevino

 

Driver: Rickie Fowler

 

Putter: Rickie Fowler

[Route 66]

I have seen many of the greats in person including Nicklaus, Palmer, Watson, Woods, Miller, Player, Els, Elkington, Couples, etc. All are great ball strikers. The best I have seen, however, is Lee Trevino. The guy is truly a master.

 

I had the opportunity to see him do a clinic about 6 - 8 years ago at a driving range owned by DA Weibring in Plano, Texas (which is now closed down by the way). There weren't a lot of people there, so I stood fairly close - about 15 feet away from him. He hit several balls with various clubs - everything very solid and right at the target. He never stopped talking the entire time, even when he was hitting the shot.

 

After several minutes of hitting balls, DA, who was asking him questions and sort of playing the straight man, said "Lee, tell them about the match you had last week in Fort Worth". Trevino talked about playing a guy for nine holes with Trevino using just his 9 wood and this guy using a full set. Trevino says he shot even par for nine holes and beat the guy. So, DA asked him how he did that. Trevino pulls out the 9 wood and starts hitting balls with it. He goes from hitting it about 120 yards like a wedge to about 140 like an 8 iron, about 175 like a five iron, altering the trajectory by opening and closing the face. The accuracy and distance control was just amazing to watch. So then DA asks him how he drove with it. Trevino says he just shuts the face down. He proceeds to hit a perfect low draw about 225 in the air. Just an amazing display.

[EKELLY]

Seen most all of the best, nobody even close to Moe Norman.....I watched that guy hit probably 2,000 balls combined in a few sessions in Palm Coast, Florida. It was ridiculous!...

I think you have to put an asterisk next to Moe as his legendary ball striking is based on clinics at driving ranges in retirement. There isn't much video of his ball striking from his playing days, and his PGA tour record is nothing to get excited about. Not saying he wasn't a great ball striker, but hitting on the range is not the same as under tournament pressure. Never seen him live but Tigers range sessions are legendary for the purity of strike and ball control.

As far as my opinion, the best I have seen live is Greg Norman and it isn't close. His driving and long iron play back in the late 80s was other worldly. The accuracy and length he had with a persimmon driver was ridiculous, as was the towering trajectory and length of his long irons. Not to mention the sound, his drives echoed like rifle shots.

On tv the greatest ball striking exhibition I've ever seen is Tiger at Augusta in 97, no words could do justice to the display he put on.

But it would be hard to argue against Hogan as the greatest ball striker ever. He didn't have the athletic gifts of Tiger and the shark, but pound for pound he hit it better than anyone. Trevino, Miller, Seve, Nicklaus, Watson, Weiskopf, DL3, Freddy, JD, Stenson, Lyle and Price also immediately come to mind as ball strikers who stood out from the pack.

Of the younger players, DJ, Rory and Day are the standouts.

Middle of the range, RIGHT directly in line with the 100/150/200/250 markers, which were a 4x8 sheet of plywood painted white, and numbered. EVERY stinking shot was straight as an arrow, over the boards, every club, EVERY shot.......Not saying he was a great tournament player, but NOBODY, EVER, hit the ball more pure, shot after shot...Even Tiger said that!, and Faldo, and Price, etc......LOL. Oh, and while I got you, Peter Jacobsen said the last time he played with Johnny Miller, Miller birdies the BACK 9.........THAT is ball-striking.......LOL

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

Listening to Moe talk during those outings you could tell he had an affliction of some sort, almost always repeated himself routinely. Some have said autism of some sort, but functioning. VERY shy man, when he didn't have a club in his hand. THEN, a switch went off. Craig Shankland (Moe's right hand man in Palm Coast) would say he could still pop in the 60's every time out, and Moe was in his late 50's at the time. Had an old Cadillac I'd swear he half lived in.....lol

[Steele47]

Best ball striker I've ever played with was Joe Durant in the SAS Championship pro-am a few years ago...his ball striking was unbelievable to be quite honest. He hit 17 greens and missed 1 fairway and it was by 6 inches. Every club was a 3 yard cut. One of the nicest guys on top of that.

 

 

Watching Tiger on the range at Greensboro in 2015 was pretty phenomenal too. Everything was on the money.

[sonnygolf]

I was at Hoylake 2006 enough said

[jmck]

By the time I saw Nicklaus in person his hip was preventing him from really going at it. Never saw Moe Norman, Hogan or Snead in person. I saw Trevino a few times when was he was 60-65 and it was always a pure stripe show. I would've loved to have seen him in his prime.

 

I'd say Norman, Sandy Lyle, and JMO were all as good as Tiger. Obviously they didn't win as much, but they each hit the ball just incredibly flush. Duval was up there too. Back in his Am days I played 18 with him in a tournament. We're about the same age and I was a pretty good player back then. That day with Duval was the day I knew I'd never be good enough. Duval was the first guy I remember seeing up close where there was just a huge separation between how good he was and good everyone else was. Really really nice guy too.

 

Of the current guys that I've seen Rory, Oosthuizen and Tony Finau stand out to me. I've only seen DJ in person once, and sadly he had his C game that day.

[mocokid]

I have seen many of the greats in person including Nicklaus, Palmer, Watson, Woods, Miller, Player, Els, Elkington, Couples, etc. All are great ball strikers. The best I have seen, however, is Lee Trevino. The guy is truly a master.

 

I had the opportunity to see him do a clinic about 6 - 8 years ago at a driving range owned by DA Weibring in Plano, Texas (which is now closed down by the way). There weren't a lot of people there, so I stood fairly close - about 15 feet away from him. He hit several balls with various clubs - everything very solid and right at the target. He never stopped talking the entire time, even when he was hitting the shot.

 

After several minutes of hitting balls, DA, who was asking him questions and sort of playing the straight man, said "Lee, tell them about the match you had last week in Fort Worth". Trevino talked about playing a guy for nine holes with Trevino using just his 9 wood and this guy using a full set. Trevino says he shot even par for nine holes and beat the guy. So, DA asked him how he did that. Trevino pulls out the 9 wood and starts hitting balls with it. He goes from hitting it about 120 yards like a wedge to about 140 like an 8 iron, about 175 like a five iron, altering the trajectory by opening and closing the face. The accuracy and distance control was just amazing to watch. So then DA asks him how he drove with it. Trevino says he just shuts the face down. He proceeds to hit a perfect low draw about 225 in the air. Just an amazing display.

 

Wait a sec, this is around 2010 (6-8 years ago) right?, That means Trevino is then age 70, OMG, GOAT!!

[johnny knoxville29]

I was a student of George Knudson in the 1980s , asked him how you hit a draw and a fade . May God strike me dead …he hit two balls at the back of the range at The National both balls hit the flag about 150 yds out !!!!!! I watched him play his last round at Oakdale in a pro Am aptly named the Knudson . He hit an iron into his last hole a par 5 to maybe 5 feet and as was the story of his career he 4 putted. Flushed everything.

As a young assistant pro in Titusville Florida I had the privilege of playing with Moe Norman a few times and watching him hit golf balls every day. Wow !!!! Unless you saw him you wouldn’t believe it . It was spooky , amusing and downright unbelievable that someone could hit the golf ball that great. Story ...I teed off #1 at Royal Oak with 3 other Canadian mini tour players . Moe tees off behind us I turn around and 4 balls are in a 10 ft circle (roughly) close enough that all 4 of us all said Moe !!! Go to the 2nd hole par 3 on the tee we can see #1 ...all 4 shots are in gimme range probably hitting a wedge or 9 iron. This went on for all 9 holes ...needless to say we all went to the range after 9 .

Of the two I am not worthy to ever judge which was a better ball striker but I can say that I am very fortunate to have seen both swing a golf club

[MadGolfer76]

My grandmother Annie. Never saw her duff a shot or miss a fairway.

[NevinW]

I saw Sam Snead hit ball when I was a kid in the 1960's. I saw Jack Nicklaus play a bunch of times in the 1970's and I still consider him to be the best over all. I saw him hit a bunch of 300 yard drives back when that meant something. I watched Johnny Miller shoot a 63-64 in Las Vegas that should have been a 57-58 if he had putted well. That was the best iron play I've ever seen. I watched every shot that Lanny Wadkins hit in the last round of his first tournament victory and every shot he hit was right on the screws with that really fast swing of his. I saw Tiger play when he first came on tour and the noise his ball made when he hit it sounded different and more solid than anyone else around. By the time I saw Greg Norman hit a ball he was well past his prime but still impressive. I missed out on a whole bunch of great golfers in 1980's and 1990's due to my career.

 

Overall my top 3: 1. Jack Nicklaus 2. Tiger Woods 3 Johnny Miller

[nbg352]

Seen most all of the best, nobody even close to Moe Norman.....I watched that guy hit probably 2,000 balls combined in a few sessions in Palm Coast, Florida. It was ridiculous!...

I think you have to put an asterisk next to Moe as his legendary ball striking is based on clinics at driving ranges in retirement. There isn't much video of his ball striking from his playing days, and his PGA tour record is nothing to get excited about. Not saying he wasn't a great ball striker, but hitting on the range is not the same as under tournament pressure. Never seen him live but Tigers range sessions are legendary for the purity of strike and ball control.

As far as my opinion, the best I have seen live is Greg Norman and it isn't close. His driving and long iron play back in the late 80s was other worldly. The accuracy and length he had with a persimmon driver was ridiculous, as was the towering trajectory and length of his long irons. Not to mention the sound, his drives echoed like rifle shots.

On tv the greatest ball striking exhibition I've ever seen is Tiger at Augusta in 97, no words could do justice to the display he put on.

But it would be hard to argue against Hogan as the greatest ball striker ever. He didn't have the athletic gifts of Tiger and the shark, but pound for pound he hit it better than anyone. Trevino, Miller, Seve, Nicklaus, Watson, Weiskopf, DL3, Freddy, JD, Stenson, Lyle and Price also immediately come to mind as ball strikers who stood out from the pack.

Of the younger players, DJ, Rory and Day are the standouts.

Middle of the range, RIGHT directly in line with the 100/150/200/250 markers, which were a 4x8 sheet of plywood painted white, and numbered. EVERY stinking shot was straight as an arrow, over the boards, every club, EVERY shot.......Not saying he was a great tournament player, but NOBODY, EVER, hit the ball more pure, shot after shot...Even Tiger said that!, and Faldo, and Price, etc......LOL. Oh, and while I got you, Peter Jacobsen said the last time he played with Johnny Miller, Miller birdies the BACK 9.........THAT is ball-striking.......LOL

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

Listening to Moe talk during those outings you could tell he had an affliction of some sort, almost always repeated himself routinely. Some have said autism of some sort, but functioning. VERY shy man, when he didn't have a club in his hand. THEN, a switch went off. Craig Shankland (Moe's right hand man in Palm Coast) would say he could still pop in the 60's every time out, and Moe was in his late 50's at the time. Had an old Cadillac I'd swear he half lived in.....lol

At times he lived in that Caddy full time.

[games]

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

 

There was a lot going on with Norman.

 

First, it was never fully known whether Norman's speech and quirkiness were the result of autism, mental illness, or brain damage from a sledding accident he suffered as a child.

 

Second, the people who say Moe never really did anything on tour are simply showing their ignorance through their truth. 1950s-60s society, especially golf society, wasn't real welcoming of people like Moe. Moe was treated poorly in the brief time he was on tour, and eventually went back to Canada. He never had a chance...

 

I wonder how a young Moe would be received on today's tour. I would like to think society has changed. I could see sponsors arranging for handlers, allowing him to play and enjoy the game he loved. Everything I read about the guy screams he was a special talent. I think it takes a pretty special talent to get Ben Hogan to walk away muttering to himself, "Just keep hitting those mistakes, kid..."

[nbg352]

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

 

There was a lot going on with Norman.

 

First, it was never fully known whether Norman's speech and quirkiness were the result of autism, mental illness, or brain damage from a sledding accident he suffered as a child.

 

Second, the people who say Moe never really did anything on tour are simply showing their ignorance through their truth. 1950s-60s society, especially golf society, wasn't real welcoming of people like Moe. Moe was treated poorly in the brief time he was on tour, and eventually went back to Canada. He never had a chance...

 

I wonder how a young Moe would be received on today's tour. I would like to think society has changed. I could see sponsors arranging for handlers, allowing him to play and enjoy the game he loved. Everything I read about the guy screams he was a special talent. I think it takes a pretty special talent to get Ben Hogan to walk away muttering to himself, "Just keep hitting those mistakes, kid..."

Amazing, sad and wonderful story, isn't it?

[games]

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

 

There was a lot going on with Norman.

 

First, it was never fully known whether Norman's speech and quirkiness were the result of autism, mental illness, or brain damage from a sledding accident he suffered as a child.

 

Second, the people who say Moe never really did anything on tour are simply showing their ignorance through their truth. 1950s-60s society, especially golf society, wasn't real welcoming of people like Moe. Moe was treated poorly in the brief time he was on tour, and eventually went back to Canada. He never had a chance...

 

I wonder how a young Moe would be received on today's tour. I would like to think society has changed. I could see sponsors arranging for handlers, allowing him to play and enjoy the game he loved. Everything I read about the guy screams he was a special talent. I think it takes a pretty special talent to get Ben Hogan to walk away muttering to himself, "Just keep hitting those mistakes, kid..."

Amazing, sad and wonderful story, isn't it?

 

I would like to think his life ended comfortably, thanks in part to Wally Uihlein at Titleist giving him a $5,000 per month stipend for life in the mid-1990s.

 

Two current instructors I really enjoy (Martin Chuck and Mark Evershed) speak of Moe reverently, and often. Evershed says Moe and George Knudson used to play 18 hole matches. Not for score, but to see who could hit more flags in the course of a round!

[Jackhammer993]

I would say Driver- Greg Norman

Irons- Johnny Miller

Putter- Ben Crenshaw

I know many here are picking Trevino and I’ve actually seen him play 18 holes twice. Unfortunately both rounds were at Spyglass Hill during The Crosby. Trevino hated that course and didn’t hide his feelings. Everytime he had to wait on a tee he would start talking about how much he hated that course, how bad the drainage was and how they should take a bulldozer to it. I think it really effected his game because he never played well there.

[ShutSteepStuck]

Johnny Ruiz (period)

[4under68]

I caddied for 12 yrs at top 100 clubs around the country from 2004-2016. Rocco Mediate was a member at a private club I looped at for 8yrs (2004-2011), got to spend a bunch of time with him, on and off the course, played with him a dozen times or so. His iron striking was legit.

 

There are a number of great ball strikers, I like to think I’m pretty good myself, but the truly best of the best are the guys that can shape every shot, high, low, left, right etc on command.

At Whistling Straits during the first 2 PGAs, I watched Tiger on the range 5x during the 04 PGA, his routine was draw, fade, straight, high, med, low with each club PW, 8, 6, 4, 5W, 3W, D. The shape of draws and fades were consistent across all clubs. True and pure clubhead manipulation. Just like Ben Hogan, Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Moe Norman, on and on. There are too many awe-inspiring ball strikers out there for me to pick a favorite.

[Stonewalled]

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

 

There was a lot going on with Norman.

 

First, it was never fully known whether Norman's speech and quirkiness were the result of autism, mental illness, or brain damage from a sledding accident he suffered as a child.

 

Second, the people who say Moe never really did anything on tour are simply showing their ignorance through their truth. 1950s-60s society, especially golf society, wasn't real welcoming of people like Moe. Moe was treated poorly in the brief time he was on tour, and eventually went back to Canada. He never had a chance...

 

I wonder how a young Moe would be received on today's tour. I would like to think society has changed. I could see sponsors arranging for handlers, allowing him to play and enjoy the game he loved. Everything I read about the guy screams he was a special talent. I think it takes a pretty special talent to get Ben Hogan to walk away muttering to himself, "Just keep hitting those mistakes, kid..."

Amazing, sad and wonderful story, isn't it?

 

I would like to think his life ended comfortably, thanks in part to Wally Uihlein at Titleist giving him a $5,000 per month stipend for life in the mid-1990s.

 

Two current instructors I really enjoy (Martin Chuck and Mark Evershed) speak of Moe reverently, and often. Evershed says Moe and George Knudson used to play 18 hole matches. Not for score, but to see who could hit more flags in the course of a round!

 

 

 

On the morning that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman died , Gus Maue was asked to go through his good friend's belongings.

In the pants pockets of the 75-year-old Norman, Maue found a couple of Titleist golf balls, three or four tees and a watch. In the trunk of his car, he discovered more than 1,000 golf balls, most of them Titleist Pro V1s, rolling around loosely, 10 pairs of golf shoes, two to three sets of irons and $20,000 in cash hidden throughout the Cadillac.

Norman hated banks.

[otw]

Seen most all of the best, nobody even close to Moe Norman.....I watched that guy hit probably 2,000 balls combined in a few sessions in Palm Coast, Florida. It was ridiculous!...

I think you have to put an asterisk next to Moe as his legendary ball striking is based on clinics at driving ranges in retirement. There isn't much video of his ball striking from his playing days, and his PGA tour record is nothing to get excited about. Not saying he wasn't a great ball striker, but hitting on the range is not the same as under tournament pressure. Never seen him live but Tigers range sessions are legendary for the purity of strike and ball control.

As far as my opinion, the best I have seen live is Greg Norman and it isn't close. His driving and long iron play back in the late 80s was other worldly. The accuracy and length he had with a persimmon driver was ridiculous, as was the towering trajectory and length of his long irons. Not to mention the sound, his drives echoed like rifle shots.

On tv the greatest ball striking exhibition I've ever seen is Tiger at Augusta in 97, no words could do justice to the display he put on.

But it would be hard to argue against Hogan as the greatest ball striker ever. He didn't have the athletic gifts of Tiger and the shark, but pound for pound he hit it better than anyone. Trevino, Miller, Seve, Nicklaus, Watson, Weiskopf, DL3, Freddy, JD, Stenson, Lyle and Price also immediately come to mind as ball strikers who stood out from the pack.

Of the younger players, DJ, Rory and Day are the standouts.

Middle of the range, RIGHT directly in line with the 100/150/200/250 markers, which were a 4x8 sheet of plywood painted white, and numbered. EVERY stinking shot was straight as an arrow, over the boards, every club, EVERY shot.......Not saying he was a great tournament player, but NOBODY, EVER, hit the ball more pure, shot after shot...Even Tiger said that!, and Faldo, and Price, etc......LOL. Oh, and while I got you, Peter Jacobsen said the last time he played with Johnny Miller, Miller birdies the BACK 9.........THAT is ball-striking.......LOL

I think someone should do some research on Moe Norman, Not his playing stats but about him as a person. There is a reason beyond talent that his PGA Tour career was almost non-existent. He wasn't wired for it.

I played golf with Moe on 3 occasions. The stories are true. A documentary of his life is scheduled to be released by Barry Morrow in December of this year.

[North Butte]

I've not been around Tour-level players much but when I think of "ball striking" I remember an occasion just a few weeks after I took up the game in the early 90's. I was playing pretty crummy public courses as a beginner and everyone used "Rock Flites" or "Dunlop DDH" type distance balls. Hardly ever saw a wound ball unless it was sitting in the rough with a big cut in it. And everyone I knew had moved on to metalwoods instead of wood-woods.

 

So that first summer I was playing with a more experienced friend, this was maybe my 20th round of golf ever. There was a group playing right ahead of us so we'd be up near our green when they were teeing off.

 

I heard a loud cracking sound that I'd never heard before and asked my buddy what that was. He said, "That's what the exact middle of a persimmon driver sounds like when you hit a Balata ball". The whole round, every hole, this one guy in the group ahead would generate that exact same CRACK on his tee shot. It was uncanny.

 

The next week I'm back to the same course playing by myself. First tee was backed up so I asked a solo guy just making the turn if I could join him on the back. Turns out it was the CRACK guy. Nine holes and he hit the same dead straight, low driver shot to the exact middle of the fairway every hole. Then an iron shot to the middle of the green. I think he missed one green (and got up and down) and made one birdie putt for one-under after nine. Toward the end he was laughing about how bad he was putting.

 

I looked in his bag and it was the old story. Some kind of Wilson Staff blades probably made before I was born. A couple of them had a hole worn in the middle that much have been 1/4" deep. The guy was in his 60's or 70's and he said he was hoping these clubs would last the rest o his life because he couldn't face having to get used to a different set.

 

So I have no idea if he was always under par for nine hole or whether I caught him on a particularly good day. He didn't hit it very long or high and (at least that day) wasn't much of a putter. But definitely the purest ball striker I've ever had a chance to play with. Just some old guy at a $20 public course, wearing out that sweet spot and that sound the ball made off his driver was something I've never heard again.

[WidespreadPanic]

I followed Vijay and Els at Congressional once. Pretty cool.

[halliedog]

Weiskopf is the first one who comes to mind. My dad took me to Doral beginning in '68. It was a low rising jet trail era but Weiskopt hit towering powerful shots. I was immediately amazed. I couldn't believe how quickly it gained altitude and stayed there. For the next dozen years or more I'd mostly follow either Nicklaus or Weiskopf at Doral and Inverrary. When they were paired together like the 36 hole finale at Doral in '78 it was always a special treat. Very, very similar ball flight but Weiskopf was normally just a bit higher, longer and prettier. He seemed to know it and savor it. The two Tourneys would be side by side but Tall Tom would confidently stride to the one a few yards furthest ahead.

 

I remember one time at #2 at Doral with a blind landing area on a short par 4 that Weiskopf walked forward only to be told by Jack and Angelo to get back there. This time Nicklaus was the deep ball, even though it didn't look that way from the tee. They all laughed about it.

 

Of course, the result normally went the other way also.

 

Trevino was the best ball striker I've seen given low margin for error. He'd attempt shots that didn't seem possible given the requirement and the trajectory. But he was so confident and precise he'd pull if off. That continued well into his senior tour career, when it still looked almost exactly the same.

 

Miller definitely had the highest standards. I remember him hitting a wedge to within 10 feet on the old par 5 8th at Doral, after laying up on his second shot. My high school buddies and I were standing right there for the third. The shot looked gorgeous. Tightly tucked over water. High Doral winds. My friend clapped. Johnny glared our way, as if he thought we were mocking him. Johnny then gestured to his caddie about what a terrible shot it was. He had that prissy walk even though the back was ram rodded. So when he walked away my friend was so upset about that glare he started cat calling to Miller. Four decades later he still doesn't like Johnny Miller due to that one incident.

 

I was impressed someone named Angel Cabrera. I assumed I would be the only one. In recent years the guy who amazes me with that quick altitude and staying power is Cabrera, especially given the age he was when I first saw it.

 

On the women's side there's a current player I don't like but I have to concede I've never seen compression and powerful ball flight like that in person from a female...Ariya Jutanugarn. It is a moderately low trajectory by LPGA standards.

 

Ignoring power, the best LPGA ball striker I've seen in person is Karrie Webb. Gorgeous consistent draw.

 

I'm with you on a couple of points.

I used to go to Westchester every year in the late 60's and 70's and I always was amazed at Weiskopf.'s ball-striking. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Seemed to me a person couldn't swing a golf club better than that. Fifth hole was a dog-leg left par 5 with an elevated tee and he it a tee shot that I can still see in my mind's eye. The nicest, highest draw you could imagine. The ball actually seemed to move twice following the dog-leg: from right edge of fairway to right side of fairway and then from right side to the middle. Just an awesome talent who should have won a lot more!!

 

Of later guys, Cabrera also impressed me. Watched him on the range at Bethpage and he just killed it. Incredible power.

 

For me it wasn't Weiskopf, but one year at the World Series of Golf (now the Bridgestone), I saw DLIII hit the greatest/most unbelievable shot I've ever witnessed. It was on the 4th hole @ Firestone, a pretty straight-forward Par 4 straight up the hill, with bunkers right and trees left. He pulled his drive into the trees left and was about 220 out with no shot but a punch-out to the fairway and hope to get up and down. He and his caddie talked it over for a while, and he pulls a 3 or 4 iron out, and every in the gallery is thinking "what the hell is this guy thinking!"

 

He proceeds to hit a shot under the initial branches right in front of him about 5/6 feet off the ground. It starts out going WAY right, but then starts to draw back towards the middle left of the fairway. About 50 yards from the green it is apparent that it's coming in too hot and too far left, but magically starts to rise and fade. Comes in and lands like a butterfly with sore feet about 8 feet right of the hole, and he routinely taps in the Birdie putt. It seems to fly in the face of modern physics/ball flight laws that a ball could start low right, draw back and rise, then in the last 50 yards reverses it's draw to a fade and come in with enough spin to hold an elevated green, but I witnessed it. THESE GUYS ARE GOOD!

 

This thread is about Greatest Ball Striker Ever though, so I'd go with Moe. I never saw him hit a shot in person, but I did buy into his "Natural Swing" system back in the 90's, and still use some of those theories/techniques in my swing today. The non-tapered grips, keeping your left wrist basically "locked" and in same orientation with your left forearm throughout the swing, choke up/down but use the same swing to produce different distances, etc...

 

Plus I bet if you asked all greats from the 60's/70's/80's who the best ball striker was, you would get many different responses from Snead to Hogan to Nicklaus to Norman, but I bet if you added up all their top 3 votes Moe would be mentioned more than anyone other than maybe Hogan, and that was more due to his diligence/work ethic than his flat-out ball striking.

[golfho50]

Even Tiger was a big fan of Moe Norman. Tiger talked about only two golfers (Moe and Hogan)

ever "owning their swing".

 

Titleist tested Moe's ball striking one day and indicated that they had

never seen anyone hit balls with zero sidespin and even the Robots had some sidespin.

[ShutSteepStuck]

Even Tiger was a big fan of Moe Norman. Tiger talked about only two golfers (Moe and Hogan)

ever "owning their swing".

 

Titleist tested Moe's ball striking one day and indicated that they had

never seen anyone hit balls with zero sidespin and even the Robots had some sidespin.

 

I find that somewhat hard to believe...

 

 

LOL

[sonnygolf]

Even Tiger was a big fan of Moe Norman. Tiger talked about only two golfers (Moe and Hogan)

ever "owning their swing".

 

Titleist tested Moe's ball striking one day and indicated that they had

never seen anyone hit balls with zero sidespin and even the Robots had some sidespin.

 

BS!