The Monday Recap: FedEx Cup begins with a bang

Adam Scott, who shed the stinging defeat at the 2012 British Open from his memory bank in capturing this year's Masters title, took an important first step toward winning the FedEx Cup this past week.

The Australian fired a bogey-free 66, before watching each challenger misfire on forcing a playoff in capturing The Barclays championship in New Jersey.

Scott's final round produced an 11-under par total, while England's Justin Rose (three-putt on the 18th), Tiger Woods (birdie putt inches short on the 18th) and Gary Woodland (putt just short on the 18th) each missed a chance to force a playoff.

The end result is more important than the $1.44 million first-place prize, if there is such a thing. Yes, there is and that is the race for the FedEx Cup title. Scott's victory earned him valuable points, pushing him to No. 2 on the list. He's 162 points behind Woods following his second win of the year.

Despite not winning more tournaments, Scott has played well when it's counted the most. Besides the major championship he claimed to begin this season, Scott tied for third at the British Open and tied for fifth at the PGA Championship.

The latter came on the heels of the FedEx Cup race, and now he's heading to the site of his inaugural PGA Tour victory. Scott won the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2003, and is having a breakthrough season 10 years ago with the chance to add to his win total. Should he accomplish the feat of winning back-to-back, he'll be in prime position to win the FedEx Cup, which has three events remaining in the playoff portion of the schedule that includes this week's tour stop at TPC Boston.

Only the top 100 players in the standings advanced to this week's tournament. The top 70 progress to the BMW Championship, slated for mid-September, before the top 30 qualify for the Tour Championship.

PGA Championship: Early first round reflections

Glory's Last Shot, oh wait, that moniker was dropped for this year's PGA Championship at the PGA Tour's request.

So what we have is the final major championship getting underway in Rochester, N.Y., at Oak Hill.

Tiger Woods was the prohibitive favorite entering this week on the heels of the victory he secured last Sunday in Akron, Ohio at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

However, some early reflections from the PGA Championship's first round show Woods didn't get off to the start everyone expected. Instead of putting a strong round together, Woods faltered late and posted a 1-over par 71.

Currently, he's six shots behind two men: Jim Furyk and Masters champ Adam Scott.

And while that's not an inconceivable margin to make up over three rounds, the telling stat is this: there are 40 golfers under par at the present time and a total of 58 players ahead of him on the leaderboard.

That's a large number to get by, but Woods is capable of such a feat. So yours truly isn't counting him out of the running just yet. It just means he'll need to figure things out a bit more when Friday's second round rolls around.

Another thought from Thursday's opening round is how Scott has elevated his game this season. After such a heartbreaking performance at the 2012 British Open, Scott could have packed it in and never competed again on the big stage. Instead, he became the first Australian to ever win the green jacket when he caught some late magic at Augusta National for his first major championship.

He also played well at this year's British Open for awhile, despite not walking way with the Claret Jug (that went to Englishman Justin Rose).

Another musing is two-fold: Phil Mickelson is trying to string together a solid start after a tough beginning, and where on Earth has Paul Casey been hiding?

Casey, who ascended to a career-best No. 3 world ranking in 2009, has plummeted to just inside the top 100 in the world coming into this week's tournament.

Yet the Englishman is tied for fifth in the early going after a superb 3-under par 67 leaves him just two off the lead.

However, Casey hasn't put four strong rounds together in majors this year. At the U.S. Open, he was having a respectable tourney until a 79 dropped him into a tie for 45th place. How about the Masters and British Open? Casey didn't play in either.

But that 67 is a solid start for the former world No. 3.

Meanwhile, Mickelson's bid for a second straight major title began in horrendous fashion as Lefty bogeyed and double-bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, en route to a 2-over par 37 on the front nine.

Mickelson, though, has birdied three of four holes and is currently playing a par-5 on the back nine.

The Monday Recap: Steve Williams

Steve Williams congratulates Adam Scott after the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Photo courtesy of McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

So I guess Tiger Woods wasn't the one who had the magic touch around Firestone all those years.

Looks like it was Steve Williams, Woods' longtime caddie.

Williams and Woods partnered to win the World Golf Championship event seven times.

But Woods made is return to golf from injury without Williams, having fired the caddie in late July.

Enter Adam Scott, who cruised to a four-shot victory at the historically Woods dominated venue.

Williams was toting the bag, and made the no bones about where the victory stacked up.

"I’ve caddied for 33 years ... and that’s the best win I’ve ever had,” Williams told CBS Sports after the round.

Really?

The 13 majors, including the record-setting performance at the 2000 United States Open or the 2001 Masters that capped four consecutive major titles, alongside Woods wasn't considered?

Even at Firestone, where Woods won in 2000 with a ridiculous shot-in-the-dark and had countless other impossible shots pulled off during his reign as the best golfer in the world, which seems like it happened in the Stone Age wasn't considered?

Man, what a messy divorce.

But so far, it looks like Williams is the benefactor. With Scott's $1.4 million victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Williams stands to make $140,000 as a 10 percent fee for caddying.

Meanwhile, Woods limped to a tie for 37th and $58,000.

So Williams made more than Woods did without hitting a single shot.

The Monday Recap: Masters Reaction

Charl Schwartzel won the 75th Masters on Sunday/provided by McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Wow, what a Masters Sunday.

Not even a Hollywood screen writer could have scripted Sunday's final round any better than what transpired at Augusta National's hallowed grounds.

So without further adieu, here's some next-day observations after such a thrilling Masters Sunday:

• Tiger's sort of back - Tiger Woods morphed into the pre-scandal version with a Sunday charge, albeit on the front nine, that kept the series of roars going throughout Augusta. Woods carded a 31 in heading to the back nine, briefly held the lead and gave a glimpse into how close he is to being back. However, Woods missed some short putts and until he wins a golf tournament - he finished in a tie for fourth for the second straight year - he's not back. Not yet, at least.
• The meltdown - Rory McIlroy looked like a 21-year-old kid on Sunday. He held it together on the front nine, before he went all "Tin Cup" on the 10th hole. The roars that began with Charl Schwartzel's early fireworks were unavoidable to the Northern Irishman's ears. McIlroy showed some class in his post-round interviews after blowing up to an 8-over par 80 that left the 54-hole leader in a tie for 15th. He actually had the lead heading to that fateful back nine, but he could never recover from the triple bogey on the 10th hole. He doubled the 12th hole and was finished before you could say "green jacket."
• Australian jinx - Greg Norman is often considered an influential force on Australian golfers and came so, so close to grabbing a Masters title on more than one occasion. Like McIlroy, Norman blew a final round lead - his was six shots - during the 1996 Masters. Fast forward to 2011 and the crop of young Aussies were looking to give their country its first-ever Masters champion. Adam Scott took charge first with a birdie on No. 14 for the lead. An ill-timed second shot on the par-5 15th left him with a difficult up-and-down. He left with par, but recovered with a tap-in birdie on the par-3 16th hole. At that point, it looked like Scott's title to lose. Jason Day, playing alongside Scott, made a couple late birdies - including the 18th - to tie Scott at 12-under par. If not for Schwartzel's late magic, Scott or Day would be getting fitted for the green jacket. Instead, the Masters remains the lone major that an Australian golfer has not captured, begging the question if there is an Augusta curse?
  
• The birdie barrage - Schwartzel joined Trevor Immelman and Gary Player as South Africans to win the Masters. He chipped in for a birdie on No. 1 before holing-out for eagle on No. 3 and did nothing until becoming the first player to birdie the last four holes en route to a Masters title. It came on the 50th anniversary of Player's ground-breaking major victory, where he was the first international player to win the Masters.
  
• America denied - Look at the current titleholders of golf's four major championships and no American players are listed. World No. 1 Martin Kaymer won the PGA Championship, South African Louis Oosthuizen took the British Open and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell won the U.S. Open last year. The last American to win a major was Phil Mickelson at the 2010 Masters.

The next major isn't until the U.S. Open. Hopefully we all get the theater and drama that came with this past week's Masters.

Rory McIlroy's blow up similar to a movie

Rory McIlroy at the Masters. Courtesy of McClatchy-Tribune News Services.

Watching the drama unfold at Augusta National on a crazy Masters Sunday made me realize something - Rory McIlroy turned into Roy McAvoy.

Yes, the 21-year-old Northern Irishman gave us all a showing of how the fictional character from "Tin Cup," would play that same 10th hole, where McIlroy began his fateful fall from the leaderboard.

McIlroy triple bogeyed the hole after sending his tee shot toward Butler Cabin, rather than the fairway.

A bogey on No. 11 sandwiched in between a double bogey on No. 12. He also hit his tee shot into a tributary of Rae's Creek on No. 13 during the famed Amen Corner stretch (Nos. 11-13) to fall out of contention.

There's still time left, but it's not looking good for McIlroy. The title is up for grabs with a resurgent Tiger Woods in the mix alongside Adam Scott, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel and Geoff Ogilvy.

Here's the famous "Tin Cup" clip: