"I CAN STILL BE A GREAT PLAYER"
In this exclusive interview with Golf Australia columnist-at-large, John Huggan, Adam Scott speaks candidly about playing at home, the Presidents Cup, juggling Tour and family commitments as well as the drive to still be competitive, very competitive, bey
It is a couple of days before the start of the BMW Championship at Medinah, part two of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup “play-offs” (what he would later call a “big old exhibition”) and Adam Scott is in reflective mood.
Now into his 40th year on the planet (he turns 40 next July), the first and so-far only Australian to win the Masters Tournament is looking forward and back on a season that, while hardly the best of Scott’s already stellar career, has brought reassurance. Even more good things, he feels, are in his future, both on and o the course. Which makes perfect sense. Over the course of a PGA Tour season in which he has won more than $4 million, Scott has played much good and sometimes great golf. But each time he has put himself in the best position to win, someone else has had a career week. Second at the Farmers Insurance Open and The Memorial, he lost to record-low scores in both. That happens.
“If I have criticism of myself it is that I have generally been starting Sundays too far behind,” he says. “I have played really nice rounds, got my hopes up by, say, the 14th green, but still been needing some help from others over those closing holes. I’d like to start a couple in front on Sunday and see if I can play that nice round from the front.
“Still, there have been some positive advances statistically, especially in my short game. I haven’t driven it quite as well as I can, but even that has been okay. I feel like it wouldn’t be hard for me to find a shot per round. That would go a long way at this level. So I still think I have a lot of really good golf to play. I can still win majors. In the first three of those this year I was in pretty good positions and didn’t quite get it done. I’m just not quite playing at the same standard as (World No.1) Brooks Koepka.”
On a slightly more prosaic level, this December will see the Adelaide-born, Queensland-raised
I’D LIKE TO PLAY IN THE AUSSIE OPEN. I LIKE THE AUSTRALIAN GOLF CLUB. SO ALTHOUGH I CANNOT SAY COMPLETELY DEFINITIVELY, I THINK I WILL BE PLAYING THERE IN DECEMBER. – ADAM SCOTT
star back in his homeland for three weeks of competitive golf.
For the first time since 2016 Scott will – almost certainly – be in the field for the Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney. He will then, for the ninth time, be an integral part of the International side in the Presidents Cup, before rounding o 2019 at the Australian PGA Championship.
It is the first of those commitments that is perhaps most significant. Scott has been a notable absentee from his national championship over the last couple of years, a sad fact that has had more to do with those eternal soulmates, politics and money, than anything else.
“I’m definitely playing in the Aussie PGA this year,” he underlines. “And I hope I will play in the Aussie Open. I’d like to play in the Aussie Open. I like The Australian Golf Club. So although I cannot say completely definitively, I think I will be playing there in December.”
No matter, it is the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne that is dominating Scott’s thoughts as he sits in the sunshine beside the Medinah practice green. Eight times he has suited up in International colours for the biennial contest with the United States; seven times he has finished on the losing side. Two years ago, at Liberty National in New Jersey, Scott was part of a team that was far from competitive. With the home side ahead by 11 points going into the 12 final day singles, the mis-match continued. Although Scott himself was victorious – 3 & 2 over Koepka – the final 14-point margin (22-8) was humiliating.
Not surprisingly, it is clear that Scott does not look back on his Presidents Cup experiences with any great fondness.
“At times, my enthusiasm for the matches has waned,” he admits. “There has often been stu going on behind the scenes. That didn’t bother me so much when I was younger. I would just get on with it and play. But as I have gained more experience and have developed opinions on the way things should be, it changes.
“I hope we can win, or at least do better than last time. We must do that. In fairness, the result always dictates how anyone feels about the matches. But I already know that we will do better than last time. (Non-playing captain) Ernie (Els) has really addressed a lot of the internal problems we have had. He will have our team more organised.
“Maybe we should be looking at what the Great Britain & Ireland teams were doing wrong in all the Ryder Cup matches they lost before the Europeans came on board. I suspect they were pretty much resigned to losing. And we are not far o that feeling. This will be my ninth Presidents Cup and a draw in the first of those is the best any of my teams have managed. I’ve been on the losing side ever since. So my memories of the Presidents Cup are not great.”
Still, while it has forever been difficult to predict a brighter future than the murky past that has so far been the International side’s lot – their only victory came in 1998 at Royal Melbourne – Scott is this year optimistic about a contest that has only rarely lived up to that name. With a strong character and personality like Els in charge things are, he feels, about to change.
“One of the issues we have had – as a result of
I WANT THE AMERICANS TO STAND ON THE FIRST TEE FEELING A LITTLE BIT UNCOMFORTABLE.
the diversity within the team – is how well we have been able to bond together for a common cause,” he continues. “It’s not naturally there. I’m not sure why the continental Europeans and the British and Irish have been able to achieve that so well. Maybe because they had some success soon after they got together. But that is the sort of camaraderie we need to aim for. I told Ernie to be tough on everyone. We’re all big boys. We can take it. I told him to get us to stand behind him and run things that way. Demand points from the team, no matter what.
“Anyway, I’m excited about what we can achieve in Melbourne. There is a dierent level of tactics coming in, finally. Even though I’ve had a voice as a senior player the last few times, it has never been my thing to try and run the show. So our team has never really played the way I would have played them. But that’s not my job. I’m not the captain. I’m just out there to win a point. But I’m happy we are doing something a bit dierent this year. There is a definite strategy in place. Which is good. Besides, what do we have to lose by doing something dierent?”
Mention of the Ryder Cup is no coincidence. According to Scott, at least one leaf has been taken out of the playbook (then European skipper) Paul McGinley used to such good eect in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. Which makes sense. There is little doubt that the outwardly genial but inwardly cut-throat Irishman moved the previously moribund concept of team captaincy forward with his innovative thinking and tactics.
“The Ryder Cup seems to be more intimidating for the Americans,” says Scott. “But they get welcomed everywhere they go on our turf, which is fine. But last time at Royal Melbourne the crowds were incredibly welcoming to our visitors. Which is nice. But come on. I want the Americans to stand on the first tee feeling a little bit uncomfortable in as many matches as possible. So that they are vulnerable. They seem to have some sort of invincibility shield on when they play the Internationals. But not against the Europeans. So it would be nice to see and hear our crowd creating a bit of that sort of atmosphere in December. There is no reason why we can’t do that.”
A little ironically, one thing in which Scott sees little advantage for the “home” team is the Royal Melbourne course. Given that there is really only one way to set-up this iconic and revered venue, messing with it would be “silly.”
“I look at the American team and see a lot of 20-somethings who have travelled the world playing golf,” points out Scott. “Guys like Rickie Fowler and Brooks have been almost everywhere. So they are prepared for a dierent style of course, one they might not see in the States.
“Besides, only a couple of guys on our side – myself and Marc Leishman – might have a bit more of an intimate knowledge of Royal Melbourne, although having Geo Ogilvy as an assistant to Ernie will help in that respect. So some of that knowledge can be passed to players without it being a hindrance. When guys are trying hard to manage themselves they sometimes find it difficult to play with the freedom you need in match play.”
Speaking of which, the perennial question with regard to Scott’s all-round game has been his ability to hole-out consistently. While his beautifully fluid full-swing has – to the naked eye at least – changed hardly at all over the course of his 19-year professional career, the same cannot be said of his putting. Not only has the club in his hands changed regularly, so has its length and the way with which it has been wielded. So what is it to be going forward? Long putter or short?
“I’ve switched putters and styles a few times recently,” acknowledges Scott. “And I’ve putted well at times with nearly all of them. I actually look at the grasses on the greens when deciding what to go with. On Poa greens, for example, I like the long putter less. But it is still the most efficient method for me. I have hot runs with others, but they cool quickly. So I’ll be using the long putter
at the Presidents Cup. Greens that are fast really favour that club.”
Switching gears briefly brought Scott to some looking back in time and a little bit of the introspection that so often accompanies such thoughts. While his much-admired swing and friendly demeanour have brought him many fans – male and female – around the globe, for many casual observers of the game he is best remembered for the four-bogey finish that cost him victory in the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham. It is a loss that festers within the man himself, albeit only on an annual basis.
“Lytham lingers only when I go to the Open every year,” he says with a rueful smile. “It’s been seven years now and I’ve had some good opportunities to win since then. But the years are passing. My chances to win are inevitably dwindling. I’m injury-free and feeling good but I have fewer chances. I’ve played in 20 Opens but to have as many as another 10 would be amazing. I have to be realistic. Not many players get better in their 40s. Compared to the field at least.
“Still, I must admit my body is moving and feeling a bit different these days. That’s in a good way. I’m not quite where I want to be just yet. It’s a work in progress. I’m getting older and trying to feel younger. And I am moving in the right direction. I never want to lose the belief that I can still be a great player. But to be world-class at anything you can never be a rounded person. You can only ever be great at one thing. So I’m not sure I can be the greatest dad and the greatest husband while I’m still trying to be the greatest golfer. They are mutually exclusive. I’m fortunate that my wife accepts that – at least for now (laughs).”
Indeed, the clearly distraught figure who stood on the 18th green at Lytham and watched as his close friend Els lifted the Claret Jug skyward, has mostly gone. Now married to Marie and the father of two young children, Scott’s perspective on the game and life in general has inevitably shifted.
“Marriage and fatherhood changes all of us and I am no different,” he confirms. “My kids are four and two. I love it. We have two kids who are fun and seem really happy. They seem to take after both my wife and I. It’s a healthy mix. They are a bit more social than me, but they also have a serious side which is a bit more me.
“So my life has changed so much. Especially my professional life. I try to be there for my family as much as I possibly can. I feel like they get the short straw sometimes though. I have to be better organised than I was before I was married and became a father. That’s the biggest change. But it is always evolving as they get older.
“I do feel like I am better at letting-go of the golf. The kids don’t care how I play, although my daughter wants a trophy. She is competitive and always asking, ‘where’s the trophy?’ I’ve been so single-minded and so focused on my golf for so long, it is probably taking a little bit longer than my wife would like for me to let it go completely when I’m home.”
Those sorts of adjustments look set to continue too.
“My schedule will probably change when the kids go to school,” agrees Scott. “But maybe I’ll be at a stage where I’ll be happy to do that.
IT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS, BUT TO WIN THE CAREER GRAND SLAM IS A GREAT GOAL FOR ME AT THIS POINT ... AND I AM ONLY THREE WINS AWAY.
I’ve been part of this circus for a long time. So maybe a change will be a good thing if and when it happens. I am sometimes away for three weeks and it is hard. The phone calls home are di cult and the first time the kids said ‘don’t go’ was very hard to handle.
“We have made a lot of adjustments as a family so that I can get the most out of the next five years or so. I don’t want to be looking back and wishing I had done something different. It sounds ridiculous, but to win the career Grand Slam is a great goal for me at this point. Only a very small group of people have achieved that. And I am only three wins away. I just have to be very sure about which ones to win. But it is possible. My career so far shows that I am capable of winning on all three stages. I just have to do it.”
It would be best not to bet against him achieving at least part of that lofty goal. Adam Scott is looking good. He’s certainly sounding good. And, on the evidence of the recent past, he remains better than good.