I'm going to step way out on a hyperbolic limb here - perhaps one attached to that Augusta National pine tree Phil Mickelson hit his famous shot from behind at the 2010 Masters Tournament - and declare emphatically that Bill Haas' shot out of the East Lake in Sunday's tense Tour Championship playoff was the greatest shot of all time.

That's right, I said it. Greatest shot of all TIME.

My reasons, however, might not be what you think.

It was not because of the silly FedEx Cup at stake - which was at that point guaranteed to be won by a player who hadn't won another tournament all season. Kind of diminishes the whole "every shot counts" season-long campaign the tour has force-fed us.

It wasn't because of the $11.44 million check it eventually secured - though that in part helps make my point.

It wasn't that a Presidents Cup selection deadline was looming and Haas had something to prove - it's not the Ryder Cup we're talking about here and one spot has already been given to a fading star who's played two full tournaments since the Masters.

It wasn't even that the shot in question - a short bunker-style blast of a ball partially submerged in water at the muddy edge of a fresh-water pond - is all that difficult. Every golfer of PGA Tour caliber skill has that shot in their arsenal and could probably pull it off with a reasonable percentage of success.

No, what makes this the greatest shot of all time is that with all of these various things on the line and the seemingly dire circumstances Haas found himself in, from the moment he first saw his ball until the instant his clubface touched it again, a scant 55 seconds elapsed.

In case you skimmed over that sentence, let me repeat it.

Haas' great shot took 55 seconds.

Again - 55 seconds ... 55 seconds ... 55 seconds ... 55 seconds ... 55 seconds ... 55 seconds.

I'll say it 55 times if I have to for it to sink in if necessary.

Having watched the thing in real time, it seemed to happen pretty quickly. But the stunning outcome of the shot and the reversal of fortunes it cast upon the theater that was unfolding with Hunter Mahan in the Tour Championship playoff made it impossible to immediately digest.

But the video of that shot - taken from the actual telecast - is out there on YouTube and various other places. And in watching it over and over and over again, I get more impressed every time with just how briskly Haas made the shot that changed his life.

Here's what transpired in that 55 seconds.

1. Haas walks to the back of the green with his caddie, slapping his hands together one time when he first gets a glimpse of where his ball is situated in the shallow water that receded from the edge of the lake.

2. He grabs he wedge out of the bag the instant his caddie puts it on the ground.

3. He trudges up the bank to the green and walks over to repair his ball mark on the edge near the apron.

4. He steps back to take a look at the break and the distance he has to negotiate.

5. He walks back down the bank and steps into the hazard.

6. He plants his right foot - with the shoe still on - into the water and takes his stance.

7. He waves one practice swing over the water and ball and sets his stance.

8. He glances up at the flag three times while making the typical pre-shot waggles.

9. He swings, popping the ball cleaning out of the water, landing it short of the flag and spinning it to a stop 30 inches behind the hole where he would be able to save par and extend the playoff.

After that Haas walked up the hill to see fate, giving a matter-of-fact wave to the screaming gallery - and without a drop of water or mud visible on his light pink shirt.

All of that happened IN 55 SECONDS. That's not as much time as many of these elite golfers (and plenty of us weekend hacks) take to hit a wedge from a perfect lie in the middle of the fairway.

In the era of slow play that seems to get slower and slower by the day (did anyone happen to notice the five-and-a-half-hour rounds that the women were taking to complete alternate-shot matches in the simultaneously contested Solheim Cup this weekend?), Haas' money shot should be heralded as a triumph of instinct, preparation and under-analysis.

Haas knew exactly the kind of shot he needed to hit. He knew exactly what club to use. He didn't need to consult his caddie for advice or reinforcement or alignment help. He didn't consult a rules official for some desperate measure of relief. He didn't bother to take off his free golf shoes and protect his free clothes by putting on his free rain suit. He didn't let vanity or nerves or indecisiveness get in the way. He didn't use the notion that he was playing for a lot of money - the biggest check ever given for one solitary golf victory - as an excuse for playing as slowly as he damn well felt like it.

A video of this shot - complete with a timer in the corner - should be showed at every PGA Tour player meeting, every college golf tournament and every amateur clinic that is ever conducted for the rest of time. It should be presented with the slogan - "This man just won $11.44 million in 55 seconds -- what's your problem?" - and rewound 55 times in a row to make sure the point registers with the snails who are trying to ruin the game and couldn't care less what we think about it.

That is why Bill Haas' shot is the greatest of all time - TIME being the operative word here. It is a brief lesson that every one of us can benefit from watching over and over again. 

It won't even take that long.