Adam Scott didn’t tame the Blue Monster Course, he survived it.
The Aussie sank a seven-foot par putt on the final hole to cap a 3-under-par 69 and win the WGC-Cadillac Championship by one stroke over Bubba Watson at Trump National Doral in Miami, Fla.
Scott, who also won the Honda Classic last week, pushed his tee shot on the 18th hole and wound up behind a tree before hooking his approach onto a ridge above the lake that guards the final green, but the ball didn’t roll back into the water as so many others have.
“That’s winner’s luck, really,” Scott said after winning for the 13th time on the PGA Tour. “Those things even out over a long period of time where at some point, I would have hit that shot and it’s bounced back in (to the water) and you don’t win, and other times it stays up and you do. To take advantage of it feels really good.
“I thought it was really solid stuff last week. Today was a little bit different. There were some ugly shots and some ugly results. … Everything fell the right way for me today,”
Watson, ranked No. 4 in the world, closed with a 67 that included a 61-foot eagle putt on the eighth hole, but made his only bogey at No. 13 and ran his a 23-foot birdie chip on the last hole 18 inches past the cup to miss out on a playoff.
Third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who took a three-stroke lead to the final round, didn’t make his only birdie until the 16th hole in a 74 that left him two strokes back in a tie for third with Danny Willett of England, who wound up at 69.
Phil Mickelson closed with a 70 to finish three shots behind in solo fifth, while Jimmy Walker was another stroke behind after a 66 that included a hole-out eagle-2 from 83 yards on the 17th hole, and Paul Casey was six shots down in seventh following a 68.
Rickie Fowler of Murrieta in Southern California shot 71 and tied for eighth with Smylie Kaufman, who also had a 71, while Harris English came in with a 72 to finish 10th.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson struggled to a 79 that included four double bogeys to tie for 14th, top-ranked Jordan Spieth tied for 17th after a second straight 73 and No. 2 Jason Day of Australia tied with 23rd following a 71.
