Tour News

Tour Mash: Scott’s Epic Comeback, PGA-LPGA Tours Announce Strategic Alliance

Published

10 years ago

Mar 7, 2016

Scott overcomes two double bogeys to win at Doral

Last week’s trivia question revolved around the last golfer to win a PGA Tour event despite making a quadruple bogey during the event. No doubt this week’s water cooler discussion will center on Adam Scott’s epic comeback from two front-nine double bogies to steal the first WGC event of 2016 and win on the PGA Tour for the second consecutive week and 13th time overall.

Scott went swimming on both the 3rd and 5th holes, but recovered with a run of five birdies in seven holes (Nos. 8 through 14) and a spunky up-and-down from the rough on the 18th green to finish at 12-under par on the week. One stroke behind was Bubba Watson, who nipped Scott by the same margin in February at the Northern Trust Open.

The champion came down the challenging closing stretch with a few nerves. Scott drove into a fairway bunker on No. 17, but recovered to the green and made a two-putt par. On No. 18, his tee shot found the rough, as did his approach to the green. He was able to coax his pitch to within 7 feet, then made the putt to secure his par and victory.

When asked how he turned things around after the horrific start, Scott answered:

I think after the second double-bogey, winning was kind of far from the front of my mind. And at that point, I took a moment to think about kind of just gaining some traction on the round before it slips away and I shoot 80 because it’s possible around this is course. To keep missing it like I did in the water, there’s just no escape from it.

Beyonce Ha Na Jang dances to HSBC Women’s Championship victory

If you’re Pornanong Phatlum (last name pronounced ‘PAT-lum’) and you close with three birdies in your final seven hole on Sunday, shoot 68 on the day to finish 15-under for the week, you like your chances. Oh, and there’s a gap of four strokes between you and the next golfer. Problem is, the gap extends the other way as well, so Pornanong’s excellent week only earned her second-place money.

Ha Na Jang smiled and danced her way to victory No. 2 of 2016. In early February, the young Korean golfer bested Canada’s Brooke Henderson by two stroke in Ocala, Florida. This week, Jang turned out the lights on everyone else with birdies on Nos. 12 through 14, then hit a three-metal over sand and water on the last hole to within eight feet of the cup. When that putt went down, Jang stood four clear of the field at 65 on the day and 19-under for the week.

And then she danced a Beyonce-inspired dance:

“You don’t see the Super Bowl right now?” she said. “Oh, really, I’m going to try. So I see the Super Bowl, really nice. Then I’m watching maybe three weeks, last month maybe, I’m watching the TV and really good music with Beyonce, and watching Beyonce, she’s really nice. I try, I think about, like I’m trying to dance after my putt, it’s really good today.”

We just can’t get over this epic celebration by Ha Na Jang! #HSBCWomensChamps pic.twitter.com/p68aMNZr2o

— LPGA (@LPGA) March 6, 2016

PGA-LPGA Tour Strategic Alliance

Know why the coffee tastes so good on United flights? It’s Starbucks. Oh, and why is the internet so good in Starbuck’s cafes? Google provides it. In both cases, you have a strategic alliance between two companies, and the PGA and LPGA tours have high hopes that their recent revelation of a strategic alliance will generate similar successes.

To clarify, matters of the alliance are quite unclear. The five pillars of the understanding are: schedule coordination, joint marketing programs, domestic television representation, digital media and exploring the potential development of joint events.

Mike Whan, commissioner of the LPGA Tour, explained that there are no timetables, nor any quantifiable outcomes, just an intention to do things better. What is interesting is this: two days after the Friday, March 4 news dump, mention of it was nowhere to be found on the front page of the LPGA site, while it was a three-second scroll down the PGA Tour’s internet home. Hmmm…

Related Topics:

Up Next

Tour Mash: Schwartzel’s Valspar Victory, Bishop’s Big Reveal

Don't Miss

Rory McIlroy, struggling with his putting, turns to cross-handed grip at Doral

Ronald Montesano

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

8 Comments

Brian

Mar 7, 2016 at 5:02 pm

“Know why the coffee tastes so good on United flights? It’s Starbucks.”

No way. I fly United nearly four times a month and the coffee is horrendous. Either you’re getting the good stuff, or your taste buds are completely ruined!

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Mar 7, 2016 at 6:10 pm
  
  They might have renegotiated. I’ll check my sources!!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Brian
    
    Mar 8, 2016 at 10:54 am
    
    Too funny. Taste, like our preference for golf clubs, is totally subjective!
    
    Reply Report comment
Buddy

Mar 7, 2016 at 10:22 am

At times it is extremely difficult to support the USGA. I often take great offense to how they set up courses for the US Open – especially when the dry out the greens to the extent that the players have to hit some secret spot just short or left or right of a sprinkler head in order for their ball to stay anywhere on the green.

Someone suggested that if they keep insisting on setting up courses that require the players to play the course completely different from how the court architect intended it to be played, they should at least place wooden clown cutouts (perhaps sporting a USGA cap?) with a big open mouth at all of their intended targets – but I often question wether or not they even have any intention of providing any possible targets for the players to play to.

However, in their defense, I will say that they did manage not to mess up Pinehurst #2 – But that was only because they were way too afraid of those domed greens to turn them into billiard tables for the week.

Do their course setups actually reveal who the best golfer is for the week? Or only who the luckiest golfer is for the week?

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Mar 7, 2016 at 10:53 am
  
  Green sites are the only areas where they come under fire these days, in the US Open. They are always firm and shaven. I like the width and the lack of injurious rough, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the mid 1990s. Good stuff, in my opinion.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Ver
  
  Mar 7, 2016 at 4:19 pm
  
  You’ve got it completely backwards, Buddy.
  The PGA is a joke to some, because the PGA sets their courses up for low-scoring for the purpose of entertainment on the television – as the saying goes, who wants to watch Pros struggle to score in any sport when the grand stage is on global television? The courses are set up mostly soft and the fairways are wide, and there aren’t many narrow targets, and the courses are large to accommodate huge crowds.
  It’s amazing that the USGA manages to set up the course that the best score is generally around Par. That takes some serious skill and understanding of what golf really is. That’s why it was a big deal to take the modern game to a place like Merion where it is small, narrow, and tight, the viewing angles aren’t so good for the crowd nor for TV cameras. Which also made it part and parcel with the difficulty of having to shape shots and not being able to overpower the course.
  If you look back at the Past, it wasn’t really about scoring the lowest score. It was more about seeing the best man win. Now we’re obsessed with bombing it and going as low as possible as many times as possible. There will always be some who can do both, but we set things up now to make it easier to do both for many more players.
  
  Reply Report comment
Tim

Mar 7, 2016 at 9:08 am

How’s that anchor ban working for the usga???

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Mar 7, 2016 at 10:52 am
  
  Wish I had a smiley or a love button to click.
  
  Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.