The majority of the golfing world is still recovering from four days of brilliant action at Augusta but already our attention is turning to the remainder of the season. Adam Scott produced some of the best golf of his career to defeat Angel Cabrera in a play-off to win the Masters with the Australian finally getting his hands on an otherwise elusive Major Championship. Not only was it a first Major for Scott but it was also the first Masters Champion for Australia, which only added more weight to the success. It was a famous win for Scott who has long been considered one of the best players in the world without a Major Championship to his name.
The Aussie put that unwanted association to bed on Sunday as he slipped into the revered ‘Green Jacket’ and plenty of punters are now pondering his chances of adding to that success over the next few months. He has come close at both the Open Championship and the USPGA in the past and his confidence is sure to be sky high following his win at Augusta. His putting continues to improve with the long putter clearly helping his game in recent years and he will be aiming to continue that upward curve at the next Major championship, the US Open in June, for which the bookmakers rate his chances at around 25/1 ($26.00).
Scott is the third favourite for the US Open with only Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy given a better chance of victory at Merion Golf Club. There is no doubt that he will be well fancied given his form but surprisingly enough, Scott has a relatively poor record at the US Open with no top ten finishes to his name. In fact he has missed the cut at the US Open on no less than six of the 11 occasions he has played in the tournament which is a worrying stat for his chances. On the flip side though, Scott will go into the tournament on the crest of his wave and flying high after his Masters success which is sure to spur him on to improve that record.
Punters across the world will remember Scott throwing away a chance at winning the Open Championship last year after he carded four successive bogeys to hand the Claret Jug to Ernie Els. That must have been a tough pill to swallow for the Aussie but he has bounced back in 2013 and will surely have a great chance at the Open once again this season. The links courses clearly suit his game which will put him right in the mix at Muirfield in July leaving Scott with another good chance of adding to his Major haul.
Plenty of golf fans are putting the success of Adam Scott down to the introduction of Steve Williams on his bag. The New Zealander enjoyed some great success with Tiger Woods and his experience on Sunday at Augusta may well have kept Scott focused on the job in hand. It is always difficult to calculate the impact of a caddy on a golfer but so far, Williams appears to be the perfect fit for Scott with more major success likely to be just around the corner.
Taking that into account it is easy to see why the bookmakers are airing on the side of caution when pricing up the chances of Adam Scott winning another major or two (or three) during the 2013 season. Paddy Power are always quick off the mark when it comes to special bets and they rate Scott as a 200/1 shot to win the remaining three majors of the season. No one is suggesting that winning the Grand Slam is a possibility but few would be surprised if Scott found himself in the winners enclose again at some point this year. The 5/1 on offer from Paddy Power about Adam Scott winning exactly two majors this season may well offer punters a good run for their money bearing in mind his current form. Scott is likely to be gunning for the British Open this season in particular with a new found resolve to put his Claret Jug demons well and truly to bed at Muirfield.