A few years back, professional player Leif Olson hit one of the most unlikely shots one will ever see in golf. You can watch the video here. It really is something to behold. As if hitting a hole in one isn't hard enough. Olson does it in one of the most spectacular ways one can imagine.
Even Leif himself seemed amazed, you can see his reaction in the highlight. He drops his club and just stands there in shock. As the ball goes in.
This shot is clearly the result of chaos theory. I mean, look at it. The guy hits the shot. It's quite a good shot on it's own merits, but it then bounces and rolls to hit the other golf ball on the green with the exact amount of force at the exact angle to bounce off and roll right into the hole.
Unlike poker, which I believe to be mostly luck, golf does take some considerable skill. Even just hitting the ball takes quite a bit of time to learn. I used to be dangerous at the driving range. I mean that literally, the ball would shoot up towards the ceiling or off the partitions and ricochet all over the place. It's funny in hindsight, but it was hardly safe. The mechanics of the swing are more important than simple brute strength.
Than there's the matter of deciding which clubs to use for which shot. Each one produces a different result, so it takes a while to figure out which one will be most effective.
Even putting takes some amount of skill to line up. You have to figure out the tilt of the green and figure out just how hard you have to hit for the ball to go the distance you want.
Even with all of that, this shot is pure luck. I'm sure that Leif is a great golfer, but even Tiger Woods couldn't hit this shot. It's a one in a million shot that we likely won't see again for some time regardless of the caliber of athletes who emerge in the next several years.
You may not like golf, I myself can't watch it, but this is a highlight that ranks up there with the greats of any sport.
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