Best golf celebrations of the millennium

We look at the best golf celebrations since the turn of 2000, from Tiger Woods to Miguel Angel Jimenez

Golf, typically, is a sport characterised by control of emotion.

To play your best, at any level, you need to be focused, in the moment and able to ignore those potentially ruinous thoughts about how well you're doing and what's on the line.

It's something that affects us all, from club golfers playing in the monthly medal to professionals attempting to win Major Championships.

However, golf's very nature means that outpourings of emotion - when they do come - can be particularly fervent.

In the professional game, pressure is so severe for such a long period of time that once the release valve is lifted, impassioned and instinctive acts often follow.

For some, a simple fist clench suffices; for others, it's a far more exuberant show.

Below, we look at 10 of the best golf celebrations of the millennium. In chronological order...

Paul Azinger - 2002 Ryder Cup

Paul Azinger looked down and out in his singles match with Niclas Fasth at the 2002 Ryder Cup after his approach to the 18th found sand. But Azinger, 1 down at the time, holed his bunker shot to keep American hopes alive. [Getty]

Paul McGinley - 2002 Ryder Cup

It wasn't long before it was over, though. Paul McGinley, who captained the dominant European team at Gleneagles in 2014, holed a six-footer in his match with Jim Furyk before jumping into the pond by the side of The Belfry's 18th green. [Getty]

Phil Mickelson - 2004 Masters

For so long, Mickelson was fighting to shake the 'best player never to have won a major' tag. At the 2004 Masters, the left-hander birdied the 72nd hole to finish one clear of Ernie Els and land his first Green Jacket. [Getty]

Tiger Woods - 2005 Masters

Tiger Woods pulled off one of the best shots of all time on the 16th during the final round of the 2005 Masters, but he bogied his last two to fall into a play-off with Chris DiMarco. No matter. He birdied the first extra hole to secure his 9th Major Championship title. [Getty]

Ian Woosnam - 2006 Ryder Cup

The Americans didn't cover themselves in glory at the 2006 Ryder Cup, but the Europeans did... on two counts: golf, and drinking. Both Darren Clarke and Ian Woosnam necked a pint of Guiness after the Sunday singles. The Ulsterman quipped Woosie took '10 seconds too long'. [Getty]

Miguel Angel Jimenez - 2008 BMW PGA Championship

Miguel Angel Jimenez won the biggest title of his career in 2008 at the European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship. What did he do after? Surge into the hospitality area with a cigar, glass of champagne and the winner's trophy, of course. [Getty]

Tiger Woods - 2008 US Open

At the 2008 US Open, Woods - playing with a broken leg and cruciate ligament damage - holed a 15-footer on the 72nd green to force a play-off with Rocco Mediate. Even though his body was falling apart, the result was never in doubt. [Getty]

Y.E. Yang - 2009 USPGA Championship

Before the 2009 USPGA Championship, no Asian player had won a Major and Woods had never relinquished the 54-hole lead in one of golf's big four. Both happened at Hazeltine. Then this picture happened. Unabridged joy from Korea's Y.E. Yang. [Getty]

Ian Poulter - 2012 Ryder Cup

The catalyst for Europe's phenomenal singles comeback at the 2012 Ryder Cup was irrefutably Ian Poulter's heroics in the Saturday afternoon fourballs. He single-handedly dragged Europe from the abyss and galvanised the entire team. [Getty]

Adam Scott - 2013 Masters

Many people were rooting for Adam Scott at the 2013 Masters after his harrowing collapse at the 2012 Open Championship. At the second play-off hole, the 10th, he rolled in a 12-footer to defeat Angel Cabrera and claim his first Major title. [Getty]