Notes On A Master

Well, Adam Scott can no longer hold the title, Best Player Never To Win A Major. And it was a long time coming. I remember watching Scott win the TPC in 2004 when he was 23 and we were waiting any day for the birth of our first child.

So 9 years later, after a lot of near misses and one colossal meltdown (the 2012 Open Championship), Scott conquered nerves and made some massive putts to finally join the Major fraternity.

So Scott got the monkey off his back, but the thing about golf is that the demons never really go away. Phil Mickelson has won multiple majors and is one of the best of our generation, but he's unraveled in the final round too many times to recall. Jim Furyk seems as steady as they come, he won the 2003 US Open, and has coughed it up many times since.

So Scott will always have those surreal clutch moments in the rain from Augusta 2013, and the Masters Championship is something that will never be taken away.

But in golf the yips find ways to re-emerge. It happened to Tom Watson at age 59 with a British Open on his putter. Scott has finally reached the pinnacle, and now he'll have to work just as hard to stay up there.

So who's the new Best Player Never To Win A Major?

Dustin Johnson (28)? He's already had some Major snafus, but lots of success and plenty of talent and time to get it straight.

Hunter Mahan (30)? A big time cash-cow, but seems to disappear in the big ones.

But I'm going with Justin Rose (32). Already has a Top 5 finish in each Slam, and seems to be in the mix at almost every one.

But even if these guys break through, do they instantly become elite, or are they one-and-done? Remember how much we liked Mike Weir 10 years ago?

PGA Sunday: History Repeating?

What are the odds that Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, Hall-Of-Famers but afterthoughts, could each win their 4th major within a month of each other? Singh's comeback would be especially far fetched since he's just 6 months from his 50th birthday and a life of luxury on the Champions Tour. "Glory's Last Shot," indeed.

But there's a long way to go. No bold predictions here. Singh (-6) still has 29 holes to complete on Sunday, while tied with superstar Rory McIlroy who's less than half his age.

3rd round play resumes at 7:45 AM and Final Round threesomes at 11:45. The round and a half to go brings many more from the field into play. Bo Van Pelt (-3) and Steve Stricker (-2) get the morning off. Major championship horses like Graeme McDowell (-2), Padraig Harrington (-1, only 18 left), and Tiger (-1) still lurk.

TNT is a big winner as well with remaining coverage of the 3rd round beginning at 8 AM. And it's not like there's anything important going on with the Sunday morning news programs anyway.

A hundred storylines could develop with all the golf remaining, but one of the best is the roadmap to redemption.

In 2011, Rory McIlroy had a healthy lead going into the final round of The Masters and completely imploded. We'd still be talking about the choke job except he came out in the very next major and lapped the field at The US Open.

Now is it Adam Scott's turn? He's just one shot back with 27 to play, and can quickly erase the debacle of last month's British Open and claim the major he's been ready for for years. He was rolling with 4 birdies in the last 5 holes before Saturday play was suspended.

And of course there's alway's the one no-name who seems to creep up and win the PGA as often as not in the last 10 years:

2002   Rich Beem
2003   Shaun Micheel
2009   Y.E. Yang
2010   Martin Kaymer
2011   Keegan Bradley

You could add Carl Pettersson (-4) to that list, except that he's won 5 times on tour. So how we feeling about Jimmy Walker (OWGR #135) at -1?

So historical precedents have been set, there are footsteps to be followed, glory to be re-claimed, demons to be exorcised, and new names to be etched in history. Sunday should be some pretty riveting TV.

Sunday at The Open: Golf's Bermuda Triangle

And just yesterday, I was pre-celebrating Adam Scott's victory. But yet there were strange unexplainable happenings and disappearances (of game) on the British links. Stonehenge-type stuff.

And even thru 14 holes today it was a sure thing. Backtime's editorial department headed to the local pool armed only with two children, a Twitter feed and an Elmore Leonard novel. The book didn't get much play as Scott's collapse played out in real time on my Android. And Ernie Els' fourth Major win almost seems like a footnote.

Sunday demise is even more of a signature of this tournament than triumph.

The 1999 saga of Jean van de Velde is the most famous debacle. Nobody remembers that he still forced a playoff, or that Justin Leonard was in it, or that Paul Lawrie won it.

In 2003, Thomas Bjorn's late bunker blunders opened the door for unknown Ben Curtis, who had posted his number hours earlier.

The next year, Els himself yipped a short putt to seal it, and Todd Hamilton of all people, ousted him in the playoff.

In 2007 at Carnoustie, Sergio Garcia needed only a par on 18 to win and claim his Major, but he backed into a playoff with Padraig Harrington, and predictably lost.

And then in 2009, 59-year old Tom Watson's story for the ages was derailed by a poor 72nd hole, and he was blasted in the playoff by Stewart Cink.

How Scott's career trajectory goes from here is anyone's guess. Rory McIlroy imploded at the 2011 Masters, then won the U.S. Open in a tour de force just two months later. So hang in there, Scotty.

Adam Scott: The Open is In The Bag

For the current holder of the dubious title "Best golfer never to win a Major," the path is wide open. A four-shot lead at the final round of the British is usually far from a certainty, with stars on the leaderboard and the possibility of weather concerns. But it doesn't take a meteorologist to predict which way the wind is blowing.

The 8-time PGA Tour winner is peaking: 8th at The Masters, 15th at The U.S. Open, and 3rd in his last start at Congressional. And he's closed the deal in the past. At 24, he famously seized control, fell apart, and then gutted out the 2004 Players Championship.

The owner of $26M in career earnings and the textbook swing made a change last year -- to the most successful caddie in golf history. And while there is a lot of debate about how much Steve Williams actually helped Ray Floyd, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods win tournaments, his bosses' successes have to be seen as much more than coincidence.

Williams is like a politician's "Body Man," making sure every minute detail is taken care of, and the golfer has no distractions or worries. And watching Scott's body language for 3 days, his game seems completely unencumbered.

There is one problem in the leader's rearview, and it's not Tiger.

More like the sideview, since Graeme McDowell (#12 in world) is in the final pairing with Scott. McDowell has proven over the last 3 years that he can stand the heat with a 1st and 2nd at the U.S. Open and was the anchor of Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup win.

The home oddsmakers see it that way too. PaddyPower.com has Scott as the better than odds-on 1-2 favorite going into Sunday with McDowell at 4-1 and Woods at 5-1.

It's Scott's date with destiny right now. And at just 32 years young, it should be the first of many.

Leveling The Players' Field

This weekend is The Players' Championship, what many call "the 5th major" on the PGA Tour. It's truly one of the toughest tests in golf. It's got maybe the world's most famous hole, the island green on 17, but the finishing hole is actually much more treacherous.

No. 18 is a 462-yard par-4 shaped like a boomerang (but that doesn't favor the Aussies - just ask Adam Scott about that) with water all along the fairway and green on the left-hand side.

Couple that with the fun and frolic on 17 and you have one of the great finishing stretches in sports.

Every year, the field is just as strong as any major. And the dominant figures in the sport each become just another "player."

Just ask Tiger Woods, who's only won the event once in 11 starts (2001 - which was also his last Top Ten). Tiger's last three finishes: T-53, T-22, T-37. And he didn't enter last year as he was rehabbing his knee for his epic US Open triumph.

Just ask Phil Mickelson, who also has only won it once (2007). The same number of times as Craig Perks and Fred Funk, who each won with both Tiger and Phil in the field. And once fewer than Davis Love and Steve Elkington.

It's also a great stage for tour winners to take that next step before becoming the dreaded "best player not to win a major" like Adam Scott, Stephen Ames, and Sergio Garcia (defending) have in recent years.

My pick will follow that logic. I'm going with the swaggering 23 year-old Ryder Cupper, Anthony Kim. Besides winning twice in '08, he set a Masters record with 11 birdies in his 2nd Round at Augusta this year. He's got all the shots, and it's been a great year for Oklahoma Sooners' individual accomplishments (Sam Bradford, Blake Griffin). Let's add Kim to the list.

Also, he's not short on self -confidence. Check out the customized "AK" belt buckle.

Your turn, player.