Scott, Garcia tied at Honda Classic after wild day

A small measure of satisfaction might come from the silence he hopes will follow.

“It’s probably good for everybody who likes talking about it, and therefore good for me because maybe we don’t have to go over it too much anymore”, said Scott of his victory and the anchoring ban debate. “I hit a lot of good putts”.

“It’s starting to get really solid, and I’ve got to just keep doing that and let the confidence build”, Scott said.

“It’s not exactly the same as the grip with the long putter, but it’s very similar I guess in philosophy”. “I got off to a dream start to kind of set the pace”.

Garcia held his own for a big part of the round until he three-putted for bogey on his 10th hole (No. 1) and Fowler built his lead by making birdies.

“I played exceptional yesterday so I had to reel in my expectations today”, said Scott.

“I gave it my all, but hit a couple of bad shots on a couple of hard holes and it wasn’t good enough”.

“I’m playing great”, he said.

He then switched to a broomstick at the 2011 Match Play Championship and went on to win seven titles across the globe with an anchored putter, including his first major at the 2013 Masters.

They started the day atop the leaderboard, but 153 shots later, Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker were left to figure out what went wrong in Saturday’s second round of the Honda Classic. He even led the tour in the “strokes gained” category over Tiger Woods, Brad Faxon and Steve Stricker in 2004, before the tour began publishing that data. For those who wondered if his career was in jeopardy, check out that trophy he was holding Sunday.

NBC’s Gary Koch gushed on air during the final round, “If Adam Scott continues to putt anywhere near the way we saw him this week, I think he is in for a big year”. So I was just trying to make sure to stay with him again, still have a shot at tomorrow. Singh made a double bogey on the 15th hole without hitting in the water, hitting in the bunker or hitting in the rough.

Blayne Barber was alone at five under.

Scott looked better than ever, 7 under through 14 holes and only once having to save par. He got back in quickly when he felt the wind die, and the ball landed safely 30 feet away.

Garcia, who is 36, surely will have more chances, but not many better than the one he failed to capitalize on Sunday.

Not that anything is a given on the demanding Champion layout at the PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, the threat of disaster close at hand more especially over the closing few holes known as the “Bear Trap” on the Jack Nicklaus designed layout. He took a two-shot lead to the final hole when Garcia made bogey, and only needed a simple par for the victory.

Scott is likely to move to number 9 in the world – a jump from 19th two weeks ago following his runner-up finish last week and his win today.

Romain Wattel finished 12-under, a shot clear of Perth native Brett Rumford, with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat at 10-under in eighth. And he finally had another victory. Quite happy that it was over and I managed to hang on.

“That’s just down to my results”.

LPGA – Lexi Thompson shot an 8-under 64 in the third round of the LPGA Thailand in Chonburi to establish a four-stroke lead over Korean In Gee Chun.

The fourth-ranked American recorded nine birdies – against a lone bogey on the 16th – for an overall 16-under 200.

“It’s been two years since I had a win so this is massive for me going into the season”. I grinded out a 4 on 16 after a slopped tee shot, and then back to hitting really good shots on 17.

“Obviously, if he shoots 61 the way the course was playing, the only thing you can do is just say – I want to say it in Spanish, but you’ll have to beep it”, he said with a laugh.

Russell Knox, second and third in the same event over the past two years, finished joint-26th on two-over after following a brace of 70s to open with two 71s on the weekend. The South Korean is five shots off the lead.