To win ugly is sometimes a beautiful thing, and Adam Scott – who had two water balls, a shank and almost another water ball on the 18th – rode his luck more than a little to win the Cadillac championship, his second tournament win on the bounce. More than that, though, the Australian, a bit like a prodigal son, has returned to a place in the sport where he is mentioned in the same breath as Jordan and Rory and Jason and Bubba. He's back, for sure.
And, with the Masters at Augusta just a month away, Scott – after a run of 2-1-1 in his last three tournaments – couldn’t have timed that return to the very top any better. What’s more, it’s good for the game; and it all makes that talk of the new, so-called “Big Three” seem rather silly. There is tremendous depth in the game at this moment in time and Scott should never have been relegated to that of an afterthought.
Horrible shots
“I think you have this picture in your mind that you’ve got to play so beautifully to win all the time,” remarked Scott in the aftermath of his success, admitting he had played some “horrible” shots at times. Yet, the mark of a great player is that on days when all the cylinders are not firing there remains an ability to motor on and to arrive at the destination of choice.
To all tour players worth their salt, and although the WGCs have huge pots of money and great prestige, it is the Majors that matter most of all.
Not surprisingly, Scott – in the form of his life – would like to be heading to the Masters as soon as possible. As he put it:, . That’s going to be the hard thing for me to do – manage my expectations and also manage my game to keep it right here.
“ I can’t just keep pushing. I have to pace myself kind of so I don’t over-work it and try and get too prepared and do all that.
“It’s finding that balance the next month for me that’s going to be really important, but obviously the confidence is going to be high right now. So I just want to do everything to keep that there.”
Scott isn't in the field for this week's Valspar Championship and the infamous stretch of holes known as the "Snake Pit," where Jordan Spieth is the defending champion. Spieth, the world number one, used his victory in Tampa a year ago as the stepping stone towards achieving his breakthrough Major success in the Masters.
Rory McIlroy – like Scott – is bypassing the Innisbrook venue in picking and choosing his build-up to the Masters.
The Northern Irishman is scheduled to play next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and then the Dell Matchplay in his final two outings ahead of that quest for the green jacket.
Fine margins
After letting the title in
Doral
slip away, McIlroy opted to look ahead with an eye on the Masters: “I feel like my schedule is good leading up to Augusta, and I feel like my game is in good shape. I just need to figure out what I’m doing in these final rounds and try to rectify it, it’s fine margins . . . . there’s plenty of positives to take from (the Cadillac), and I’ll get back at it next week in practice and hopefully get myself back into contention and do a better job of trying to finish the tournament off in Orlando (Bay Hill).”
There are two Irish players – Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell – in the field in the Valspar. Harrington returns to action after missing out on the Cadillac in Doral (for which he wasn’t qualified) and the Dubliner – ranked 130th in the latest world rankings – needs a win if he is to earn his ticket to the Masters.
He also needs to break into the top-64 available players off the world rankings (next Monday) if he is earn a place in the field for the Dell Matchplay.
Michael Hoey, meanwhile, is the lone Irishman in the field for the True Thailand Classic, a co-sanctioned event on the European Tour and the Asian Tour.
