I have to admit that I did not get to watch the final round of the 2013 Masters Toonamint live. I was flying on a plane to Asia, but my DVR caught the whole thing and I was able to watch every minute. Ever since the 2007 Masters where Zach Johnson won with an over-par score, the Masters tournament has done a wonderful job making exciting back nine drama.
This year’s event was no different with the event in complete doubt leading up to the playoff. Although I knew the outcome, watching it unfold was still quite compelling. I am very happy to see Adam Scott take his first major especially after his falter down the stretch as the Open Championship last year. It would have been easy to let that event damage him and cause him to falter again coming into the final holes at Augusta.
The birdie that he made on 18 was a great show of grit and determination. Of course the birdie right on top of it by Cabrera was a stroke of genius as well. That is one shot that I do regret not getting to watch live. I would have had the feeling that the tournament was over once Scott made the birdie.
Cabrera is such a strange golfer to get a handle on. He really only plays in the majors and a handful of other tournaments. Mostly tournaments that are right before the majors. He rarely makes a splash at the other events, then the Masters rolls around and he is right near the leaderboard. In the pool of golf buddies, we always have four picks and then a wild card. I did nothing else exciting in the top four picks, but my long shot pick of Cabrera helped win a little of my money back.
The truly interesting question is where does Adam Scott go from here. Until last year the consensus on Scott was that he had loads of talent but lacked conviction to finish the job. When he won The Players Championship in 2004 almost everyone penciled him for big things. After 2004 Adam more or less fell off the wagon. He has always been a good ballstriker, and in 2004 he was one of the Tour’s best putters, but post 2004 his putter betrayed him.
There was also the big question about whether his personal life was more important than what score he shot on the golf course. The only stories I read about Adam Scott was who he was caught on the beach with recently. It seemed he really didn’t care about winning major championships. Recently as well the number of stories non-golf related has reduced as well.
Add to all of this, a little over two years ago he started to putt with the long putter and he has made a return to form and now picked up the major we all thought he would win in 2004. I think Adam does not have much of a chance to win another major in 2013. He may contend in the Open Championship, but I would be very surprised. The remaining golf courses for 2013 are shorter and more target based that Augusta is, so I believe this will be the peak of his 2013 year.
Then we must ask ourselves what about 2014 and beyond. I believe for the next few years he will always have a chance at Augusta. I will go out on a limb though and say he will not win another. I could eat my words there, and it is not a strong passionate prediction, but still I feel comfortable saying it. I think in the near future Adam will get his win at the Open Championship, and I may say he might pick up a win in the PGA Championship as well. All in all I see two to three majors total for Adam in his career. In the Tiger era two to three majors is a great achievement.
Scott has too much talent to only get this one major win. His game fits almost all of the majors, although I think he is weakest at the US Open. He has proven he can win at the Open Championship, and the PGA is likely right up his alley as well depending on which venue the event is being played at.
The biggest question mark I have remaining will be to determine if the change planned for 2016 and the anchored putting stroke will dramatically affect his game. He says verbally that it is no big deal, but I think that is what his mental coach has taught him to say. Confidence in putting is such a big deal, if even the smallest doubt finds it way in, he may struggle and cause him to struggle. Interestingly his stats with the long putter are not that much better than with the short putter. Still the confidence factor plays a big role.
Photo credits: © Jon Super.