Paula Morton stood 60 yards from the 18th pin at the famed Dunes Golf & Beach Club with a sand wedge in her hand and the realization that her dream of being crowned World Champion at the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship was potentially slipping away.
Morton, who had just dumped her third shot in the water, took a drop in the rough on a downhill lie and told herself to get the ball close. She did even better, delivering the most dramatic shot in the 25-year history of the World Amateur.
The Greenbrier, Tenn., resident landed the ball on the front of the green, clearing the hazard with ease, and watched it roll into the cup, prompting her to throw her arms in the air and scream with delight. The magical shot gave Morton a gross score of 91 and a net 67, good enough for a one stroke victory over Percy Hayes of Granbury, Texas who shot a gross 80 and a net 68.
