Adam Scott’s above his catty caddie

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Perspective is everything in life, and Adam Scott seems to have it.
While nearly everyone in golf remained obsessed yesterday about the manner in which the most famous caddie since Francis Ouimet overshadowed his new boss’ win at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, Scott shrugged it off, content in the knowledge that when all was said and done, the $1.4 million check was written out to him and not Steve Williams.
Still, two days before Scott headlines a field of 156 golfers in pursuit of the Wanamaker Trophy at the 93rd PGA Championship, much of the subject of Scott’s lengthy media session at the Atlanta Athletic Club focused not on him but on his reaction to Williams’ post-victory rant. The tirade centered on the caddie’s animus toward former employer Tiger Woods, not Scott’s first victory with Williams on the bag.

Williams was none too pleased about being fired by Woods after toting his clubs — and Lord knows how much dirty laundry — around for a decade in which they won 13 majors and nearly 70 PGA Tour events, and he made that loud and clear. Many of Scott’s peers had little good to say about Williams’ words, Tom Watson going so far as to remind everyone it was Scott who made all the winning shots at Firestone, not the guy handing him his clubs.
Sitting in the eye of this storm of palaver sat Scott, a player once ranked No. 3 in the world behind only Woods and Phil Mickelson before he slipped out of sight. Now he’s back to show you that while he might have been out of your mind the past three years, he’s not out of his.
“I certainly don’t think that was his intention to steal my moment at all,’’ the 31-year-old Australian said calmly. “He was asked these questions, and he gave his honest answer, I assume. With a lot of things to do with anything related to Tiger Woods, it’s all scrutinized and blown out of proportion a lot of the time, I think. So this is no different.
“We’ve had our chat about the whole thing, and he feels the way he feels. I just took what he said as confidence for me. If he really feels that was one of his great wins, then you know I’m kind of flattered, and it fills me with confidence. I think that’s what his intention is, to be honest.
“In that situation, I think it all got a little out of hand, and we’ll just go on from there,” Scott added. “So I said, ‘Fair enough.’ Hopefully we’ll just go let our clubs do the talking for the rest of the week now.”
That will be the case unless a dream pairing comes up at some point in which Scott and Woods are sent off together, Williams carrying Scott’s clubs while looking with assassin’s eyes at the man who fired him with or without (depending on whose story you believe) looking him in the eye.
Even Williams seemed a bit chagrined about how his reaction to earning more than twice as much as Woods at the Bridgestone (he was paid 10 percent of Scott’s winnings, or $140,000, while Woods left with a check for $58,500 after tying for 37th) went viral. He was surrounded by media and given the opportunity to stick a verbal finger in Tiger’s eye. So he took it.
“Looking back on it, I was a bit over the top,’’ Williams told FoxSports yesterday. “I had a lot of anger in me about what happened and how it all came out.”
In contrast, Scott had none. He’s just happy to be winning again. And he’s happy to feel like he has a good chance to win his first major without someone telling him he needs psychiatric assistance.
Truth be told, Scott has a far more legitimate reason to feel that way than Woods, having tied for second at the Masters in April, the third time he’s been inside the top 10 at a major. Yet, there is a bit of history hanging over him that he has to clear up, and it’s an oddity: Every time he’s done well the week before a major, he’s gone to pieces, a concern far more important than anything his caddie has to say.
“I’ve certainly found it difficult to carry the form over to the next week,” Scott conceded. “I’ve won a few times before a major, and I’ve won a few times the week after as well, but it’s very hard to peak for a certain week.
“I keep saying consistent all the time. I’m just trying not to have big ups and downs. I think the way I’ve set it up it shouldn’t be as hard as it was in the past to carry a bit of form into a major. We’ll see.”
If we do, Steve Williams likely will have plenty to say about his new lion . . . and nothing about an old Tiger