ADAM SCOTT and his new short putter have achieved a relatively quick first victory with a one shot win over Sergio Garcia at the Honda Classic giving the Aussie golfer his 12th US PGA TOUR title.
The 35 year old hadn’t won for almost two years and many believed he would struggle with the enforced move as of January 1 to a non-anchored putter.
But the 35 year old became the first on tour to adhere to the change over and post a victory.
Fighting back against the young brigade, Scott now has more TOUR wins than anybody under 40, with Rory McIlroy on nine.
As the tour pointed out itself, since Scott last won at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in 2014 Jordan Spieth hoisted eight trophies, McIlroy seven and Jason Day five.
At a tough PGA National course in Florida only 13 players finished in the red.
Scott shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday – that included a quadruple bogie on the par three fifteenth – to start the final round on 9-under alongside Garcia.
He began Sunday with a birdie and by the fifth hole had a two shot lead but there were a number of anxious moments on the way to his even par finish.
At the notorious three hole “Bear Trap” stretch from the 15th it was pointed out that while he had a career 17-under for the rest of the course, he was 22-over for those three holes.
He managed it Sunday only 1-over. The Bear Trap was named after Jack Nicklaus and is acknowledged as one of the toughest stretches in golf.
“I hit a lot of good putts, not as many went in as yesterday, but this is a tough track it’s hard to get it close all the time. I played exceptional yesterday so I had to reel in my expectations today,” Scott said after his win.
“I got off to a good start and made a birdie on the first and definitely relaxed me. I hit a lot of good putts, some didn’t go in, fortunately it was enough in the end.”
“It’s a good feeling to hit a putt and see it go in the hole, like any round. I got off to a dream start to set the pace and make sure it was me and Sergio for the whole day.”
Scott was making just his third start of the year and was coming off his T2 finish at the Northern Trust Open last week, won by Bubba Watson.
In 2015 he had just three top ten finishes with none in the top three.
John Senden, after a 66 in the second round, finished with a 1-over 71 tied 10th at 1-under.
Adam Scott Honda Classic win highlights: Video