The best shots of Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott at 2016 WGC-Cadillac
Adam Scott crashes
Rory McIlroy’s party in wild Doral finish
DORAL,
Fla. — This was Rory McIlroy’s tournament to win and Adam Scott stole it.
Scott captured the
WGC-Cadillac Championship Sunday at
Trump Doral at 12-under par, edging
Bubba Watson (11-under),
Danny Willett (10-under), McIlroy (10-under) and
Phil Mickelson (9-under).
The victory came a week after Scott won the
Honda Classic 90 minutes north at
PGA National.
And it was somewhat improbable considering McIlroy took a three-shot lead into the final round, was playing as confidently as he has in more than a year and was 6-of-8 in his career converting 54-hole leads into wins.
Scott, too, looked like he’d left himself for done with double bogeys on Nos. 3 and 5 and had fallen six shots out of the lead after five holes before he went on a furious back-nine charge that included birdies on 10, 11, 12 and 14 to seize the lead and never give it back.
“I don’t think
I’ve processed what’s happened, especially [Sunday’s] round,’’ Scott said. “It was ugly and good, all in 18 holes. To win a
World Golf Championship means a lot to any of us.
And I’ve been playing here, I feel like, for 12 years, and I’ve played well at times, but never really had a chance to win.’’
On
Saturday night, McIlroy, who was going for his third career
WGC win, spoke about “having a number in mind’’ for his final round that would secure the win. He, too, spoke about not playing defensively, that he would continue t be aggressive.
Well, the 2-over-par 74 he shot was obviously not the number McIlroy had in mind.
“I didn’t make enough birdies,’’ McIlroy said. “I felt like my game was OK for the most part. I didn’t take advantage of the holes I should have. I couldn’t birdie any of the par 5s and that’s really what killed me.’’
What looked like a final-round coronation for McIlroy slowly developed into a delicious back-nine shootout between McIlroy,
Watson, Mickelson, Willett and Scott.
McIlroy’s three-shot lead became four when
Johnson, his playing partner, double bogeyed the third
hole. Johnson, who trailed by only two at the turn, would end up imploding further as the round progressed, shooting a 79
.
In the span of a frenetic hour or so, a McIlroy bogey on
No. 7 dropped him to 11-under, a Watson eagle on No. 8 elevated him to 10-under, Willett birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 moved him to 10-under and Mickelson birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 got him to 10-under.
Mickelson, who delivered an emphatic fist pump when he drained his 18-foot birdie putt on No. 9, promptly killed the buzz when he cut his tee shot into the lake off the 10th tee. That led to bogey and dropped him to 9-under and he would never fully regain the momentum.
McIlroy then made things even tighter — in his own mind and on the leaderboard — when he failed to get up and down from the bunker on No. 9 and took bogey, making the turn in 2-over and falling into a four-way tie at 10-under.
For Mickelson, the rest of the day was going to be about whether he could solve the back nine of the
Blue Monster, which had been holding him back all week. Before his bogey on
No. 10 Sunday, he was 12-under par on the front nine this week and 2-over par on the back.
After shooting an opening-round 67, Mickelson had it going on Friday, making the turn in 32 but he soiled it all with a back-nine 40 after which he said he “lost focus.’’
Scott never lost his, which is why he won.
“I think after the second double-bogey, winning was kind of far from the front of my mind,’’ Scott said. “And at that
point, I took a moment to think about kind of just gaining some traction on the round before it slips away and I shoot 80, because it’s possible around this course. To keep missing it like I did in the water, there’s just no escape from it.
“I took a moment to myself on the sixth, and figured there were chances downwind a little bit the next few holes that if I could get two birdies by the turn, then not too much damage is done and maybe
with a great back nine, I might be in with a chance. By the time I had made the turn, I had made a couple birdies, and
Rory had dropped a shot and I thought with a great back nine I was in with a chance, and what’s that I tried to do.’’