There was over a million shots hit during the 2016 Race to Dubai but only ten made our shortlist for Shot of the Year. Fans voted throughout December and McIlroy’s five wood at the K Club received nearly a third of all votes.

On the 72nd hole of the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Rory McIlroy faced 252 yards, over water, to a back pin. He was leading back one and knew one good swing would see him win his National Open for the first time.

The shot that followed started over the water, landed on the green and came to rest less than three feet from the hole.

“I actually thought I hit my drive too far left.” said the 27 year old. “I thought it had ran out. But it was playing a lot longer than it had been playing the previous couple of days. I had a good yardage. I had 222 to the front, 256 to the pin. And I had a similar shot in the Pro-Am, actually. JP tried to get me to hit a 4-iron, and it was a similar wind, as well, but I felt like I was trying to hit it too hard. So I actually dropped another ball in the Pro-Am and hit 5-wood, a very similar shot to what I hit today. Actually got a little bit of practise there. I didn’t know I would need it at the end of the week but there you go.”

McIlroy’s shot narrowly beat out Scott Hend to be named European Tour Shot of the Year. Hend’s albatross at the Shenzhen International received 22.3 per cent of the fan votes and rounded out the top three along with Brett Rumford’s perfectly judged bunker shot at the ISPS HANDA Perth International.

The final standings in Shot of the Year voting:

1. Rory McIlroy – Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
2. Scott Hend – Shenzhen International
3. Brett Rumford – ISPS HANDA Perth International
4. Lasse Jensen – Netbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player
5. Andy Sullivan – 100th Open de France
6. Sergio Garcia – BMW International Open
7. Kristoffer Broberg – Lyonness Open powered by Sporthilfe Cashback Card
8. James Morrison – BMW PGA Championship
9. Ricky Fowler – Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
10. Robert Karlsson – Made in Denmark