The first tournament of the PGA TOUR’s Florida Swing concluded yesterday at the difficult Honda Classic at PGA National. Rickie Fowler took control of the tournament during the first two days of the tournament, shooting back-to-back, bogey-free 66’s to entire the weekend at 8-under par. He would fade over the weekend to finish at 3-under par and a T6 finish after poor iron play. It would be the veterans Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott that would make headlines.
Sergio Garcia was searching for his ninth PGA TOUR victory and first since his 2012 win at the Wyndham Championship. It was a thrilling duel between Scott and Garcia (though Justin Thomas and Blayne Barber got within two shots at one point), with the tournament coming down to the last few holes and the Bear Trap. Garcia would eventually bogey the 16th and 17th holes, but would birdie the 18th to finish at 8-under par, just one behind Adam Scott.
Adam Scott has been playing some great golf on very difficult golf courses the past couple of weeks. In his third tournament since the ban on anchored putting (which Scott used for five years, including at his win at The Masters), he ended the longest winning drought of his career and won for the first time since the 2014 Crowne Plaza Invitational to capture his 12th PGA TOUR victory. This was also the first time Scott won with a short putter since the 2010 Singapore Open. He finishes the tournament at 9-under par (even making a quadruple-bogey on Saturday) and moves to World Number 9.
“I’ve kind of said it the whole time. I don’t think it’s going to be that big a deal for me,” Scott said. “It’s some hard work, and I’m not afraid of that. I’m glad it’s going in the right direction, and I’ve putted pretty solid the last couple weeks, and I want to make sure that keeps going.”
As we get closer and closer to The Masters, you can bet Scott will continue working hard on his putting. It’s been a great week for past Masters Champions with Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson and now, Adam Scott, winning worldwide. Will we see one of them win another Green Jacket?
Source: PGA TOUR
