Scott solid with putter

ADAM Scott’s return to the broomstick putter was given its first tick of approval when he rolled in a seven-metre birdie putt in between the torrential rain squalls that hit his morning group at Royal Pines yesterday.

Back-to-back birdies to close helped the Gold Coast fill him with good vibes from yesterday’s 71 as well as give him confidence that he had made the right call on the putter he must keep a centimetre or two from being anchored on his chest to be a legal stroke.

“Yeah, the putter was good actually, really solid ... I didn’t want to let Sergio get too far ahead,” Scott said of the late flourish to peg back playing partner Sergio Garcia (67) just a little.

An eight iron kicking into the pond for double bogey at his seventh hole, the par three 16th, sapped momentum from the Scott round but there’s better ahead.