• Search
  • News
    • Opinion
    • Tournaments
      • Emirates Australian Open
      • PGA Championship
      • The Open Championship
      • U.S. Open
      • The Masters
      • 2020 Olympics
    • Video
  • Equipment
    • Accessories
    • Balls
    • Drivers
    • Fairway Woods
    • Hybrids
    • Irons
    • Putters
    • Wedges
    • Fashion
      • Autumn / Winter
      • Spring / Summer
  • Travel
    • New Zealand
    • Australia
    • International
  • Top 50 Courses
  • Play Your Best
    • Instruction
    • Golf Rules
  • Magazine
    • Read past issues
    • Mailing List
  • Advertise With Us
 logo
Lost your password?
  • News
    • Opinion
    • Tournaments
      • Emirates Australian Open
      • PGA Championship
      • The Open Championship
      • U.S. Open
      • The Masters
      • 2020 Olympics
    • Video
  • Equipment
    • Accessories
    • Balls
    • Drivers
    • Fairway Woods
    • Hybrids
    • Irons
    • Putters
    • Wedges
    • Fashion
      • Autumn / Winter
      • Spring / Summer
  • Travel
    • New Zealand
    • Australia
    • International
  • Top 50 Courses
  • Play Your Best
    • Instruction
    • Golf Rules
  • Magazine
    • Read past issues
    • Mailing List
  • Advertise With Us

Does this tour pro owe royalties to Phil Mickelson for playing his patented over-the-shoulder flop shot?

Ryan HerringtonJanuary 25, 2022
GolfNewsVideo
Santiago Tarrio isn’t a household name in New Zealand, but the 31-year-old Spaniard sits 108th on the world ranking. He’s made 10 cuts in 11 career starts since 2020 on the DP World Tour, and did so again this past week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Tarrio struggled at Yas Links on the weekend, however, shooting 75-75 to finish T-68. Still, he’ll have a shot on the 71st hole of the tournament that he can fondly remember if for nothing other than the remarkable absurdity that he actually managed to pull it off.

RELATED: Thomas Pieters keeps his cool and grabs the biggest win of his career in Abu Dhabi

Tarrio’s tee shot on the par-3 17th hole found the right rough adjacent to the greenside bunker. It presented an extremely awkward shot as the downward slope made taking a traditional stance facing the green and trying to get a club to slide under the ball difficult, the possibility of skulling the ball through the green and into the water left of the hole very real.

Perhaps given his place in the tournament, Tarrio decided there was another, less orthodox but potentially less risky play for the shot. So he set up with his back to the green, taking out a wedge to play the ball over his shoulder, a la Phil Mickelson and the famed flop shops he’s shown in practice over the years.

Spaniard @santi_tarrio hit this backward flop-shot during his final round today 🤯#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/TbD7sKNrqy

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 23, 2022

Impressive for sure. Unfortunately for Tarrio he missed the six-footer for par. But let’s not let that small detail get in the way of the otherwise awesome display of guts and improvisation.

And for nostalgia’s sake, we figured we’d unearth one of Phil’s original versions of the shot:

DP World TourHSBC Abu Dhabi ChampionshipPhil MickelsonSantiago TarrioYas Links

Related Posts

  • ‘THIS IS PATHETIC’: Phil Mickelson slams potential rollback of maximum driver length

    Daniel RapaportAugust 28, 2021
  • Pros, officials discuss PGA Tour’s future in mandatory players meeting

    Dan RapaportFebruary 23, 2022
  • BRAGGING RIGHTS: What Mickelson really won by beating Tiger

    Dave ShedloskiNovember 24, 2018
  • Phil Mickelson heroically tries, fails to hit right-handed shot against net at Arnold Palmer Invitational

    Joel BeallMarch 8, 2019
  • Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match sets date, venue and format

    Joel BeallMay 8, 2020
  • Arnold Palmer

    10 Rules For A Golf Life

    Guy YocomOctober 4, 2017
  • 2018 US Open: What makes Shinnecock’s Redan green so unique

    Ron WhittenJune 8, 2018
  • Guess who: Mickelson gets the nod for Presidents Cup

    John StregeSeptember 7, 2017
Facebook 12,989Fans
Twitter 15Followers
Instagram 661Followers

Newsletter Signup

This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn’t support. Sign up here instead

Latest Posts

This Jordan Spieth–Michael Greller conversation, and the resulting shot, was peak Jordan Spieth–Michael Greller

May 28, 2022

Nearly two decades after Annika played Colonial, LPGA pros ponder taking on the men again

May 27, 2022

Social media

Search

Newsletter

This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn’t support. Sign up here instead

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise With Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • GolfDigest.com