The Secret's In The Caddy

All the talk at the start of the week was of one man, Tiger Woods. The most famous golfer on the planet was returning from a lengthy lay off having not played since the Masters in April, where he finished a creditable tied fourth. Despite having not played in four months and his somewhat patchy form at the start of the year, Augusta apart, Tiger went into the WGC Bridgestone Invitational as one of the favourites due to his phenomenal record at the course. The world number 28 had competed at the Firestone golf course eleven times and had ended the week victorious on no fewer than seven occasions, with last year being the only one in which he failed to finish in the top five. You could understand people wanting to side with the 14 time major winner when he obviously loves the course and knows how to get the job done here.

However, Woods wasn't the only seven-time winner at Firestone looking to make it number eight. Steve Williams, Tiger's ex-caddy, is now the bag man for Adam Scott and he too was hoping to claim another title at the Akron, Ohio venue. Williams was a major part of the former world number one's success, working with Woods for 13 of his 14 major victories and all seven of his Firestone triumphs. After his acrimonious split with Woods earlier this year, Williams was asked to caddy for the 31 year old Scott and he jumped at the chance. 

It was a decision that would prove to finally bear fruit come last night. At the fourth time of asking with Williams as his caddy, the Australian came good. After carding an impressive bogey free eight under par 62 in his opening round, which turned out to be the low round of the week, Scott followed that up with a level par 70. On the Saturday, he was level par for the day through 11 holes and had relinquished his lead at the top of the leaderboard before producing a late flurry, which included four birdies in five holes between the 12th and 16th holes to take the lead into Sunday with Jason Day and Ryo Ishikawa a shot behind on -11.

With Williams by his side, Scott played smart conservative golf in the early part of his final round. Having Woods' ex-caddy helping him around the golf course was crucial to the Australian's assault on the tournament as his course knowledge and confidence were evident and could be seen brushing off on the man from Adelaide. You generally don't win tournaments on the front nine of the final day and this could be seen in Scott's play. He waited patiently for his openings as others around him started to throw their chances away, most notably Keegan Bradley who finished the last seven holes +6 after playing solidly all week.

He chose the back nine to make his move and he executed a stunning final nine holes to claim victory. After achieving his first birdie of the day on the 10th, he chipped in from the first cut at the edge of the green on 12 to really put the pressure on his rivals. Another birdie followed at the 14th before Scott saved par with a 10-foot putt at the next. The word clutch came to mind. Two pars followed at 16 and 17 and he approached the final hole with a three shot lead knowing that only a huge collapse could halt his charge towards his eighth victory on the PGA Tour. Taking his caddy's advice he hit one of the best shots of the day, a 6 iron with his second shot aimed straight at the 18th pin, which allowed him to birdie and give him the victory with a final score of -17, four shots clear of world number one Luke Donald and young pretender Rickie Fowler. It's now onto the final major of the season, the USPGA Championship, where Scott looks to build on a poor record of only five top 10's out of 42 major appearances. With the Firestone victory under his belt and Williams by his side, you wouldn't rule out former world number 3 from ending his poor major's record in Atlanta this week. Look out for Rickie Fowler to build on his close showings at the Open and the Bridgestone Invitational and I also expect Dustin Johnson to make a strong showing.