A small measure of satisfaction might come from the silence he hopes will follow.
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Adam Scott proved he can win with a standard putter as he held off the challenge of Sergio Garcia to claim the Honda Classic at PGA National.
Scott, at 35 no graybeard yet himself, has been eager to rejoin the mix, and he took a necessary step toward doing so by winning the Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Sunday.
Scott actually led the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting the first year the stat was kept (2004).
“It feels very good”, said Scott, who carded a final-round 70 for a nine-under total.
“I got off to a good start, made one at the first, that definitely relaxed me”, Scott said. – Maybe we won’t look at that short putter as if it’s some sort of serpent in Adam Scott’s hands anymore.
“Yeah, I would say after I was finished with 17 there, I was feeling pretty comfortable, but still you want to get 18’s drive down there in good position, so you never really want to get ahead of yourself in the game of golf because anything can happen, really”, Thompson said.
Scott’s final round was up-and-down throughout, birdieing the first and fifth holes, only to bogey the ninth and 10th, before his 12th-hole birdie was cancelled out by another bogey on the 16th. Garcia started his round with ten consecutive pars before dropped shots on 11, 16 and 17 helped Scott to earn the win. “I played frightful last week [at Riviera, where he missed the cut]”.
‘I putted well and chipped well but he played great. Keeps all my ankles and technical things in good order, so feels really comfortable. All of them will be together this week in Miami for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, the first time in 2016 for all the top players to compete in the same event. He made four bogeys in a 74 on Saturday and four bogeys and three birdies Sunday. “We’ve been working hard because it was a little bit loose, it was slipping previous year, the consistency wasn’t there”.
Scott and Garcia were quick to point out that Sunday might not be the two-man race, and there was plenty of evidence to back them up.
“I was just saying I had to make birdies to win this thing”. But on one of the more daunting shots over water on the course, he fired at the right pin at the 11th. He moved back to a two-shot lead there, before the Spaniard’s great birdie at the 14th brought it back to one and the Bear Trap loomed.
Scott had a 7-iron that he hit “as hard as I could”, and it was a relief to see it find the green.
“I’m not going to lie; I’m happy with my week, ” Garcia said. “Two more in the water, Adam”, one man yelled.
Dawson saw the amusing side of Scott’s gesture replying: “I will put it with all the other obsolete clubs”.
At Chonburi, Thailand, American Lexi Thompson won her seventh LPGA title after a final-round 68 that completed a six-stroke victory over In Gee Chun of South Korea in the final round of the LPGA Thailand.
The Honda Classic also featured its fair share of weird golfing moments, including Gary Woodland’s shot in his underwear during the final round. “So I was just trying to make sure to stay with him again, still have a shot at tomorrow”.
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He’ll move up the world rankings from his No. 19 spot.
