“All you guys watched me in college golf and amateur golf, and even early tour days, and I’m up for any shot, really,” Woods said. “I believe I can pull off any shot. But there’s also being smart about it, as well. If I don’t pull it off, I can make 6, 7, 8. And those were the scores I was making, instead of being a little more conservative.

“It’s learning how to play over a 72-hole period, not just one hole.”

Woods wasn’t the only major champion this year whose signature shot was tough to find.

Masters champion Zach Johnson was torn between his 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole in the final round, or his chip from off the 18th green that settled a foot away for par to keep his two-shot lead.

The shot that won’t get any recognition came at No. 11.

“It was a cut 3-iron around the trees in a right-to-left wind with the water, obviously on the left,” Johnson said. “I don’t hit a cut except when I mis-hit it. But I hit it in there to 30 feet, two putts for par. That’s when I knew I was doing something right.”

Most people likely remember the 7-iron that Angel Cabrera hit to 3 feet on the 15th hole at Oakmont to build his final-round lead at the U.S. Open, allowing him to drop shots on the next two holes without losing the lead.

However, the big-hitting Argentine will always remember the drive on No. 18 that found the fairway.

“It was one of the best shots I’ve hit in my life,” he said. “It was what I needed to win the U.S. Open.”

Finding the signature shot for Padraig Harrington is messy, but so was the finish at Carnoustie. He figures it was either his 50-yard pitch over Barry Burn to 5 feet for double bogey that ultimately got him into a playoff, or his 7-iron to 10 feet for birdie on the first playoff hole against Sergio Garcia.

But his favorite shot came Friday morning left of the eighth green.

“The ball ran down to a tight, hard lie on a downslope, and I had a pot bunker between me and the flag,” he said. “I chipped it as pure as can be to a foot. It was my best strike ever. It was ever so pleasing.”

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