I’M DOING NOT BAD FOR OVER FORE-TY
On-fire Scott is determined to sweep away the ‘nearly man’ tag
ADAM SCOTT has had his fill of Open misery.
A run of four consecutive top-10s from 2012, at Royal Lytham, where he finished runner-up to Ernie Els by a shot after one of the most spectacular collapses down the stretch in Open history, carding four bogeys in succession, represents his best effort.
Just 12 months later the Adelaide ace took a one-shot lead into the back nine only to finish tied third behind champion Phil Mickelson.
It was a similar story in 2014, 2015 and 2019 when he was once again featured in the top-10 to earn his “nearly man” tag.
But Scott hasn’t given up all hope of adding the Claret Jug to the Green Jacket he claimed nine years ago.
He’d better be quick, though, for we may be witnessing a changing of the Aussie guard.
As Scott was walking off the 18th yesterday with a 65 in the bag after his eagle attempt had stopped on the lip of the hole, compatriot Cameron Smith was poised to begin his second round on five-under par.
The 28-year-old from Brisbane quickly moved to eight-under with three quickfire birdies.
But Scott’s also on fire after going from four over after just six holes on Thursday to seven under at halfway.
It was an amazing transformation and there may be more to come from a player who never quite lived-up to the hype that surrounded him when he burst onto the scene 20 years ago.
He said: “As good as the 65 is, getting back to even was huge yesterday. After six holes things weren’t feeling good.
“Now I’m on my way. I had to get into double digits under par to even have a chance. I’d love to absolutely stripe it a bit more over the weekend. But really my putting was very good and you’ve got to lean on that around here.
“You don’t need much extra motivation at an Open Championship.
“But anytime I think about letting one slip through my hands, it hurts. So it would be exciting if I shot a really great round tomorrow to tee off with a legitimate feeling I’m in contention.
“Not only for the fact I haven’t been in that position for a Major for a little while but also that I’ve had one hand on this jug and I’d like to put two on.
“I feel I’m in good shape. There’s nothing holding me back at all. I think I’m doing alright for over-40 and I’m feeling good.”
Scott also feels he has an advantage over several of his rivals in terms of course experience.
He said: “That’s a factor around here. It really depends if it gets windy.
“But I think at these events, just experience in general can be a big factor at the Open, when it comes down to it. Being able to know how to hit a shot or control a shot when you have to and, hopefully, I get put in that situation.
“I’m probably going to have to try and stretch it up unless the wind blows. But my putting was great today and it’s been generally great this year.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say the guy who wins here is the leader of putting. Hopefully I’m up there and trending. I want to keep that going over the weekend.
“The big thing is when you hole a couple of long ones like I did today, it’s so good for the momentum.
“Anything from 40 feet can be good shots and when a couple of those go in, it can really set you up for a good day.”
Scott also said playing with Dustin Johnson helped get his competitive juices flowing. He added: “Some guys you can feed off and I’ve
always enjoyed playing with him. Dustin has a nice rhythm in the way he plays and I’ve always felt I benefit from that. He started getting it going around the turn and I was just trying to keep pace with him.”