We expected Tiger Woods, in position to become the only record holder of victories on the PGA Tour with 83 successes. And it was Adam Scott who finally won the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, a very upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles (California).
Co-leader at -10 at the start of this last tour with the American Matt Kuchar and the North Irish Rory McIlroy, the Australian benefited from a catastrophic start of the current world No. 1 (triple bogey at 5 then bogey at 6) and almost dumbness of Floridien (birdie 1, bogey 2 followed by seven pars) to take a little psychological ascendancy despite a double at 5 and a bogey at 4 erased by three birdies at holes 1, 3 and 6.
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More than ever in the attack by attacking the nine holes of the return, much more formidable than the first nine, Scott, who will blow his 40 candles next July, has been able to contain the assaults of certain other pursuers such as the South Korean Sung Kang or the American Scott Brown thanks to two other birdies (at holes 13 and 17 against a bogey at 15). With a last card under par (70), while his main opponents have to settle for a 72 (Kuchar) and a 73 (McIlroy), he wins with a score of 273 (-11), or two points ahead of Kang, Brown and Kuchar. McIlroy, he finished fifth (-8), just ahead of Dustin Johnson, tenth with him also a card over par (72). It was his fourteenth title on the PGA Tour, he who had already won here in 2005 in a tournament reduced to 36 holes due to the pouring rain…
"Everyone tells me I'm 40 this year," he explains. I do not know if they are implying that it is the beginning of the end. I'm lucky right now. At 39, I feel in great shape. My career may be at its peak, both physically and mentally (Editor's note, he just won the Australian PGA Championship in December). "
Another Aussie wins on TOUR.
Sunday's highlights from @ AdamScott⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XE3X0Aid8X
Winner of the Masters 2013 (in the playoff against the Argentinian Angel Cabrera), Adam Scott now wants to expand his palmares in Grand Slam. Doesn't it say that a golfer is maturing at the turn of the quarantine?
"This must be my year," continues the Australian who had offered the Claret Jug to Ernie Els at the British 2012 on the last holes. I can't afford to let the next ten years slip by. I have to get there now. The goal now is to win multiple times. And what I just achieved here this weekend may be the start of a new chapter in my career. "
These two shots from @TigerWoods?
Golf in a nutshell. He can't help but smile. # QuickHitspic.twitter.com / mDpFIzYhmB
Host of the tournament via his Foundation, Tiger Woods, he went completely through this meeting which could have allowed him to erase from the shelves the legendary Sam Snead, co-holder with the Tiger of victories on the PGA Tour (82) . But a dreadful weekend punctuated by two very heavy cards of 76 (+5) and 77 (+6) forced him to finish… good last with a final score of 295 (+11). It is not yet this year that the American with fifteen Major successes will win at the Riviera Country Club, where it all started for him in 1992.
"It didn't work today (Sunday)," he said after his last lap. The good news is that I sent all of my balls forward, not backward, even if some went to the side. Unfortunately, I have been in this position several times. However, I continued to fight, hole after hole, blow after blow while trying to make birdies (five bogeys on its last ten holes). What I did not do. It is obviously always disappointing, always frustrating ... But I also tell myself that I still have the chance to be in the game. A few years ago, this was no longer the case. Woods, who has confirmed that he will not be competing in the WGC-Mexico Championship from February 20 to 23, may return on March 5 to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hil, Florida. A tournament where he won eight times!