2016 Honda Classic results: Adam Scott doesn't need an anchored putter to win

The PGA Tour is producing some powerhouse winners here in the first quarter of the season. Adam Scott is the latest world-class talent to get a win on the board before the Masters, joining last week's winner and another green jacket holder, Bubba Watson.

Scott, who was No. 1 in the world less than two years ago, comes under scrutiny more than most because he's supposedly got that very glaring weakness in his game: putting. All the public discussion of anchored putting put Scott in the crosshairs probably more than anyone on Tour. Scott, of course, switched to the anchored stroke and finally got his first major, that 2013 Masters, using it. That major was one of a handful won by anchored putters and the governing bodies of golf reacted by outlawing that kind of stroke.

Scott was the poster boy for the rule change because he tinkered with his putting so much and did find that major championship and world No. 1 success with it. Those wins and that kind of putting stroke got all the attention, but it also overshadowed that Scott used a shorter putter and un-anchored stroke for most of his career. He was even among the best in the world with it! Scott was not some scrub who started working miracles with an anchored stroke. He won 18 times with a short putter and, as Kyle Porter reminded us last week, led the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting in 2004.

But, after more than a year of hype, when the anchored putting ban finally went into effect at the start of 2016, the media assumption was that Scott would wilt and fade even farther from the top of the world rankings. Every time he makes a mediocre putt, or posts a bad number, the anchored putting critiques will come out for the Aussie. He's obviously bothered a bit by 1) the rule and 2) the assumption that he needs the anchor to succeed.

So his win Sunday at the Honda Classic, less than two months into the anchor ban, must be that much more satisfying for Scott. The relief showed on the 18th after he knocked in his last putt to edge Sergio Garcia by one.

Exhale, Adam.

You're a winner again. pic.twitter.com/3xmYQ4Rkt3

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 28, 2016

He remains one of the four or five most naturally talented players in the world. Whenever you ask someone who knows whose swing is the best in the world, they name either Scott or Louis Oosthuizen. Yet Scott had not won since Colonial, back in May 2014. That was a victory that boosted him to that No. 1 status, but he'd hold it for only a few weeks.

But it was pretty clear early on this year that he was in form and would be in contention despite whatever putting stroke he brought to the course. He was in the lead last Sunday at Riviera before stumbling on the back nine, and then spent the entire weekend at the Honda Classic on the lead. PGA National is one of the Tour's toughest venues, with the wind often whipping and water abutting almost every fairway and green. Scott remains one of the best tee-to-green players in the world and he navigated all that trouble with relative ease, scorching the Jack Nicklaus course with a front nine 30 on Saturday. It was looking like a career round, but two balls in the water at the 15th led to a quadruple bogey. Even with that mess, he still posted a third round 66 thanks to eight birdies on the card. On Sunday, he'd become the first player to win with a quadruple bogey during his week since Phil Mickelson in 2009.

Scott does not need to be the best putter in the world to win -- other parts of his game are that good. It's just that we always choose to focus on the putting and presume the anchored putter was the kind of crutch that would prevent him from keeping up with everyone else. It may not last but it appears he's found something with the short putter again, which is good news for golf and his prospects at Augusta.

Here are the final results from the Honda: