Adam Scott & Steve Williams Reunited For Major Run
By Danny Norris
Adam Scott & Steve Williams reunited for majors and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
Adam Scott was able to convince Steve Williams to come out of retirement and caddie for him for the upcoming three majors and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the rest of 2015.
Scott made the announcement on Monday and had this to say:
"“Steve was adamant that he was not going to caddie in 2015, so he took some convincing, but I am very happy he’s agreed to help out. We’ve had great success together, so I’m looking forward to being on the links with Steve again.”"
I think this is a fantastic move that makes Scott a legitimate threat at these four tournaments. As it was, Scott wasn’t a true favorite that you seriously considered. He wasn’t in that elite group of golfers like: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, and others.
Not that Scott was completely written off, but after his performance at The Masters this year he really wasn’t a legitimate favorite. If he wasn’t in contention at Augusta where he has won and played so well numerous of times, he wasn’t going to be a favorite at the other majors.
It’s not as if Scott is playing badly, he’s just not playing up to the caliber he is capable of. Scott has made the cut in six of eight tournaments this year, he’s got one top five, and three top 25’s. That’s okay, but that isn’t Scott’s ceiling.
When you look at Scott perform he has all the tools, it’s just one piece of the puzzle that is missing and that is his putting. The statistics bare that out as well.
Scott is driving the ball 304.5 yards which is 4th on Tour. Scott is hitting the Green In Regulation 70% of the time, good for 6th on Tour and his Strokes-Gained: Tee-To-Green is 1.535 which is 6th on Tour.
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Scott still has a sweet swing and is still an elite striker of the ball. The problem lies in his putting. He has been an absolute disaster on the putting surface. Scott’s Strokes-Gained: Putting is a dreadful -.710 which is 191st on Tour.
If Scott is just a below average to an average putter on Tour, he’ll get back to winning tournaments and competing week in and week out. That is just how good Scott is off the tee and this is where Stevie Williams is needed.
Now, Williams won’t help Scott with his putting stroke, but he will give Scott the confidence that if he makes a good stroke it has a great chance of going in because the line will be right. Scott won’t make every putt, but he’ll make more than what he’s making now.
The way I see it, Williams is good for at least one less putt a round. Which I think is at the very minimum, don’t you think? If you take that and apply it to Scott’s last five tournaments this is how he would have finished instead.
Arnold Palmer Invitational: 10-under, T-13
The Masters: 3-under, T-21
The PLAYERS: 7-under, T-13
Wells Fargo Championship: Scott ended up missing the cut by a stroke. If he had Williams, he doesn’t miss the cut.
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial: 10-under, T-5
If Scott just makes one less putt per round those are the results. That is more accustomed to what we are seeing out of Scott. He would have made the cut in all five tournaments, and finished inside the top 21 in at least four of those five tournaments.
Moving forward, these are the kind of results Scott is capable of with Williams. In my eyes, Scott is now a strong candidate to win any one of the majors this year.
The U.S. Open is anybody’s tournament, Scott has had tons of success at The Open finishing inside the top five the past three years, and he his game profiles well at Whistling Straits. Granted, he did only finish T-39 in 2010 when the PGA was held at Whistling Straits.
You may also have to consider Scott as the slight favorite over the field at the WGC-Bridgestone. Three top nines in the past five years including a win in 2011.
As it were, I wouldn’t have thought too much about Scott, but now he is right back up near the top of elite golfers. That’s how much Williams means to Scott.