Ryder Cup

How good was that? Jamie Donaldson's match-winning wedge at Gleneagles

Words by
Josh Coles
How good was that? Jamie Donaldson's match-winning wedge at Gleneagles

Coming into the 2014 Ryder Cup, Welshman Jamie Donaldson was playing some of the best golf of his life. With the European team needing one more point to secure a comfortable victory, Donaldson knew he had a chance of immortality if he could just close out his opponent Keegan Bradley.

At dormie 4 up, he found himself 146 yards away on the par 4 15th. Donaldson flushed his wedge, gave the club a twirl before watching his ball land on the putting surface before coming to rest just a foot away from the hole. Donaldson put his finger in the air in acknowledgement, knowing he’d secured the trophy-winning point.

How good was that laser-like wedge shot? A Shot Quality score of 0 denotes the worst possible outcome, 100 represents the expected score of the average tour player, and 200 represents statistical perfection, such as a hole in one or holing out from long distance. See below for what Donaldson scored for his career-defining shot.