Scott vow to bounce back from poor year

ADAM Scott has no doubt he can claw back up the world golf rankings in 2018 after bouncing back from a similarly poor season only two years ago. His missed cut at last week’s Australian PGA Championship, in his own backyard of the Gold Coast, signed off a winless year interrupted by the birth of his second child and regular bouts of sickness.

At world No.31 and unlikely to tee up competitively until the US PGA Tour event at Riviera Country Club in mid February, Scott has ensured his worst end-of-year ranking since 2009, after starting 2017 at No.7.

But the 2013 Masters champion said nailing two US Tour wins early in 2016 after a disappointing and winless 2015 season has taught him his form slumps do not last long.

“You can sharpen your focus after a disappointing year,” Scott said. “You can really identify a few things that you might want to change or work on. These off-form years are also learning years.

“In 2015, it was a very similar kind of year for me.

“I had just played OK, but OK doesn’t look very good among the best players in the world and then I came out in 2016 and really put it all together nicely.”

Scott’s best results during the 2017 US season were ties for sixth at the Players Championship and ninth at Augusta.

However, just four top-10s and nine top-25 results were not what the 13-time PGA Tour winner demands of himself.

“I’ve still got my best years ahead of me and my body is in great shape,” the 37-year-old said.

“I’m looking forward to this next year for a lot of reasons. I think I’ve still got my best years ahead of me.”