Fairway to Heaven

This text presents a round-up of the greatest climaxes in the history of golf's major championships. With comments from some of the world's best players, readers are given an insight into what it feels like to have the eyes of the world watching and everyone holding their breath.

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In golf, nowhere is the strain more apparent than the closing stages of a major championship. The crowd, absorbed in every shot, conveys the tension to the players, who already have their own mental battle to win. Before missing the most notorious putt in the history of the Open Championship, Doug Sanders was already thinking of which side of the gallery to turn to first for applause. His three-foot putt went awry, and in the ensuing silence, a pin could have been heard to drop. The spectators reacted as if they had just witnessed a terrible accident - in sporting terms, they had. "Fairway to Heaven" is a round-up of the greatest climaxes in the history of golf's major championships: the Open, the Masters, the US Open and the US PGA. With comments and reminiscences from some of the world's best players, who have either survived or succumbed to the pressure of the 18th, it provides a keen insight into what it feels like to choke or triumph with the eyes of the world watching.