Adam Scott doesn't need to do much more to lock up career-best season
Golf is a game of inches. It's also a game of overcoming adversity, mixed with a pinch of luck.
Adam Scott proved all of those factors to be evident on Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. And he did so in the short span of four hours.
Just one week after topping Sergio Garcia by one shot at the Honda Classic, Scott came away victorious for the second straight week. In doing so, he kicked off the PGA Tour's Florida swing in spectacular fashion, accomplishing something that had only been done once before.
Scott joined Tiger Woods as just the second player to win back-to-back events on the Florida swing. All without his iconic, and since-banned, anchored putter. Who would've thought?
The second of the two victories came at Trump National Doral -- one of the toughest courses on tour. After just five holes, it looked as though The Blue Monster had gotten the better of Scott. He fell behind by six shots fairly quickly and seemed to be out of contention.
That wasn't the case at all, however. He played his final 13 holes at six-under par to beat Bubba Watson by one stroke. From 3:15 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET, Scott went from being six back to eventual champion.
If not for some luck, however, Scott may not have beaten Watson.
On the 72nd hole, Scott found himself with a tree standing between him and the green. Rather than lay up, Scott attempted to hit a cut shot around the tree and onto the green. The ball didn't fade as much as he had hoped, coming up short-left.
The dimple-covered ball landed in the rough, took a few hops and stopped dead in its tracks just about a foot away from the water hazard. Scott hit a brilliant shot to make up-and-down for par, sealing the win. Had his ball not hung up in the rough, we very well could be looking at Watson as the champion.
That's golf, though. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Thanks to Scott's fortunate break, he's quickly put together the best start of his career. In fact, he's already in the early stages of a career year. Let's look at the numbers.
In six starts this season, Scott has already posted four top-two finishes. That's already tied for the best in his career. He did the same in 2006, albeit in 19 events.
As mentioned beforehand, Scott has also won two tournaments this season. That matches his career-high set in 2004, which was later tied in 2013. In each of those seasons, he played 16 events.
Of course, Scott won't be able to keep up this torrid pace. Or, he probably won't, at least. But that's not to say he won't have the best season he's ever had. He'll certainly make more money than he ever has before.
Scott has already earned himself $4,127,218 on the course this season. That number only trails those from his 2013 and 2006 seasons when he made just shy of $5 million each year. And with Sunday's victory, Scott pushed his career earnings up to $42.8 million -- seventh all-time. Sure, tournaments are paying out more money than ever nowadays, but that doesn't undermine just how successful Scott's been thus far in 2016 -- and more specifically, in the past
Only one player -- one single PGA Tour player -- has beaten Scott in the past three weeks, and that guy would be Bubba Watson. The lefty almost topped Scott again on Sunday, but the golf gods were on the 35-year-old Australian's side.
Now the sixth-ranked player in the world, Scott has his sights set on becoming No. 1 once again. A career year, and possibly a second major in 2016, could help him do just that.
