Backspin: Scott's plans for biggest events paying off

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As I sit here late on a Sunday night -- make that early Monday morning -- I can't help but think my former colleague and friend Dave Solomon, longtime sportswriter and columnist for the New Haven (Conn.) Register, who was killed in a car accident over the weekend. He was 59, loved golf, and he would have enjoyed all the stories emanating from the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

I'll have more on Solomon's life and influence in the Back Nine, but going back to Firestone, you had to be impressed with Adam Scott's four-shot victory, which he called "one of the biggest wins of my career."

"To win a World Golf Championship is what I set out to do this year with the majors, a real focus on the big events," Scott added, "and I think I've done a pretty good job so far of getting myself in the hunt."

Indeed. Besides his win at Firestone, Scott tied for second at the Masters and tied for sixth at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship earlier this year. He was also just three strokes off the lead at the halfway point of the British Open before falling back on the weekend.

While he hasn't yet won a major, he does have eight TOUR wins, including THE PLAYERS Championship and the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. And now a World Golf Championships win.

Of course, he could wipe that major hole off his resume at this week's PGA Championship. He's certainly going in with plenty of momentum.

"The goal is to give myself a chance to win these big events," he said. "It's what I've wanted to do my whole career, and for whatever reason, I haven't performed my best. But I really feel like I've got a good plan in place to get myself ready for these events now. That's working nicely."

That plan, of course, includes his new caddie, Steve Williams.

Williams was certainly a significant figure in that with seven previous wins at Firestone alongside Tiger Woods and that experience certainly helped Scott.

"He really guided me around the course nicely," Scott said. "When he needed to step in and just make a point of where we need to be, he did, and had some great little notes in his book about putts on greens. He knows this place very well, so he was, no doubt, a help."

Would Scott have been able to execute those shots with someone else on the bag? Maybe, but in Williams Scott got the confidence boost he needed, not to mention sound advice around the golf course.

"We all know his personality in those situations, and he's right up for it," Scott said of Williams. "It's almost like I need to show him I've got it in me, because a lot of people question it."

A perfect example of that came on the final hole when Scott was thinking of just dumping it over to the right of the flag on his approach shot.

"He said, 'What are you talking about, hit a 6-iron straight at the pin'," Scott said. "And I hit a great shot. He sees those lines and he gets me to go for it."

Editor's note: Here's a look at who's hot/not going into this week's PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Stock up

Rory McIlroy: He's coming off four straight rounds in the 60s at Firestone, where he tied for sixth and has already stated that he prefers playing in 80-degree weather on American-style golf courses. Atlanta Athletic Club should suit him well. FedExCup rank: n/a Rickie Fowler: Finally Fowler shoots a below par final round in a tournament he has a chance to win, and what happens? Adam Scott plays near-perfect. But Fowler keeps putting himself in these situations, and he's going to win one of them soon. FedExCup rank: 25 (40 last week). Jason Day: Speaking of a guy who keeps putting himself in position to win, Day got his eighth top-10 of the season. That's the second-most on TOUR and two of them came at majors. There's no reason to think Day won't be right there again come Sunday. FedExCup rank: 12 (14 last week)

Stock down

Phil Mickelson: The last two starts -- a missed cut and a T48 last week -- haven't exactly been anything to write home about. Prior to that he finished second at the British Open, but Mickelson has been so streaky it's hard to figure out what's going on with his game. FedExCup rank: 5 (4 last week). Tiger Woods: With just one tournament played in the last month, Woods goes to Atlanta rusty. That was evident in his play last week. The driving remains erratic, the putting inconsistent. Maybe it will click this week, but he just hasn't been able to string it together for four rounds. FedExCup rank: 129 (135 last week). Ian Poulter: By Poulter's own admissions this has not been a great stretch. He's missed the cut twice in his last four starts and has just one top-25 on TOUR since Bay Hill. Saturday, he carded an 80 en route to a tie for 68th. Not exactly a confidence builder. FedExCup rank: 112 (110 last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Is it me, or does Adam Scott look as comfortable and confident as he ever has in his career? Even when he won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2004, I'm not sure he was this sure of himself. That's got as much to do with people like Greg Norman and Steve Williams believing in him publicly as it does with Scott being settled in his private life. Scott used the word confidence a half-dozen times after his victory Sunday and he seems to have plenty of it right now.

2. With the win, Scott not only moved to 15th in the FedExCup standings, all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the field for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, he also moved back inside the top 10 in the world for the first time since 2008. This is just a hunch, but I don't think that climb is done just yet either.

3. Last week I said that we shouldn't read too much into Tiger Woods' performance one way or the other because it was his first start in three months and he's still working his way through a major swing change that simply hasn't taken hold yet. After an up-and-down week at Firestone, that still seems to be the case. "I'm still struggling with my alignment and trusting the fact that the ball doesn't shape as much as it used to," Woods said. "I don't cut the ball as much, I don't draw the ball as much, the pattern is much tighter. It's weird when I look up the fairway or look at the flags; I'm used to seeing the ball move a lot more in my lines, so I'm still fiddling with that."

4. It looks like the work Lee Westwood has put in with Dave Stockton and Dave Jr., not to mention Dr. Bob Rotella, is paying off. With the Stocktons, Westwood focused on the grip pressure he was applying to the putter and where the putter sat in his hand. With Rotella, it's all about focusing on how he's rolling it rather than whether it goes in or not. The result? A tie for eighth at Firestone that included a final-round 65. I don't think anybody would be surprised to see Westwood be in contention, or even win, this week in Atlanta.

5. Ryo Ishikawa has earned enough money thanks to his tie for fourth in Akron last week to become a special temporary member of the TOUR, and it sounds like he might take up the membership. "I don't know any of the details at this point, but I know that there's a big game coming up for me next week," Ishikawa said, referring to the PGA Championship. "We'd like to play well there in order to be a part of the PGA TOUR." Up until now, Ishikawa has been playing mostly on the Japan Tour. There's a reason why Woods raves over him, and we saw it this week.

6. Patrick Cantlay lost in the final match of the Western Amateur over the weekend but if this summer is any indication of his future, he has a bright one. A very bright one. I'll be curious to see if Cantlay, who finished in the top 25 in all four of his starts on the TOUR, which included a second-round 60 at the Travelers earlier this year, will be able to say no to the pro game much longer.

7. Think golfers can't write? If they're Scott Stallings they can. If you haven't had a chance to read his first-person piece following his win at The Greenbrier Classic, I highly recommend it.

8. So much for the vacation Scott Piercy had planned for this week. Somehow, I think he's OK with it though after getting his first career win Sunday at the Reno-Tahoe Open. Next stop: Atlanta.

9. Earlier I mentioned the passing of Dave Solomon, a revered and respected sportswriter and columnist from Connecticut who was tragically killed in a car accident over the weekend while driving home from UConn football practice. The news of course was shocking and sad to so many people -- myself included -- and today Connecticut and a lot of New England is in mourning. I worked alongside Solomon at the New Haven Register in my first job out of school and am honored to have done so. The last time I saw Dave was at this year's Travelers Championship, a tournament I look forward to maybe more than any other because it gives me the opportunity to see so many friends and former colleagues from my home state. Dave used to needle me, as he did most of his colleagues and friends, and I'd give it right back to him, which I think is why we got along so well. As talented a writer as he was, he was a far better person.

At his wife Judy's request, his final column, which had already been filed, ran in Sunday's newspaper. It was a weekly piece called "I was thinking" in which he would offer insight on any number of topics, including golf, which he loved. Well, after hearing the news of his passing, I was thinking ... I'm going to miss you Dave. And a lot of others will, too.

Forward Spin

The last time the PGA Championship was held at Atlanta Athletic Club, David Toms won with one of the greatest lay-ups in the history of golf. Not of course because of the shot itself but rather the decision to hit it and put his trust in his very good wedge game. Toms hit the wedge to 12 feet, made par and the rest was history. There are any number of storylines heading into this year's tournament, the least of which may be the fact that AAC is now longer and we probably won't see a Toms-like player win there this year. The PGA also represents the last chance for the American players on TOUR to end their collective 0-fer in majors this year. Will that end this week? Just a hunch, but I think no.

Kodak Challenge

NEXT WEEK: Wyndham Championship HOLE: The par-5 15th at Sedgefield Country Club UPDATE: The downhill tee shot must avoid a small creek on the left and a large fairway bunker on the right. Going for the green in two will require a long carry over water and deep greenside bunkering to a severe back to front sloping green. Take a tour | Kodak Challenge standings