Scott unfazed by new putter
Aussie is better off staying short rather than going long.
The popular “strokes gained” statistic was not introduced until four years ago, although the PGA Tour has data to track putting performances dating to 2004. Tiger Woods was No. 2 that year, followed by Brad Faxon and Steve Stricker. All have reputations as being great putters.
So it’s worth noting, statistically, who was the No. 1 putter in 2004 — Adam Scott.
And that’s why Scott is bemused, and a little irritated, when he’s often cited among players facing an uncertain future when the ban on anchored strokes used for long putters starts on Jan. 1.
“People don’t like facts? It’s a good starting point to an opinion — a fact,” said Scott, with a grin. “Maybe because me changing to a long putter was quite a drastic change. Maybe that’s why it got a lot of attention. Beats me. I’ve tried to downplay it the whole time. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal going back to the short putter.”
He switched to the long putter at the Match Play Championship in 2011, contended for the first time at the Masters two months later, nearly won the British Open the following year and then became the first Australian to win the Masters in 2013.
What often gets overlooked is that Scott won 18 times worldwide before switching to the long putter, including The Players Championship and the Tour Championship. He has won seven times in five years with the long putter.
Scott refers to 2015 as a “transition” year, yet when he talked about change — a daughter, a new caddie, tinkering with equipment — his put- ting was almost an afterthought.
What might have hurt him this year was putting so poorly. He started with a short putter, only to switch back to the longer putter before the Masters. The change back to a short putter for good began at the Presidents Cup.
“I think the focus on putting is probably the least impactful thing,” he said. “I haven’t had the consistency with my striking this year because it’s one of those things where when your putting suffers, eventually it catches up with your ball striking.”
Honor for McIlroy: Rory McIlroy has been voted the European Tour’s player of the year for 2015, winning the award for the third time in the past four seasons.
The 26-year-old Northern Irishman successfully
■ defended the Race to Dubai title after winning the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai last month. He had two other victories, at the Dubai Desert Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Match Play.
Memorial rolls on, grows: The Memorial Tournament extended its contract with title sponsor Nationwide through 2021 and increased its purse to $8.5 million, placing the annual event at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, among the richest tournaments on the PGA Tour.
The Memorial, founded by Jack Nicklaus in 1976, also is increasing the winner’s share of the purse to $1.62 million. Last year, winner David Lingmerth received $1.16 million of the $6.2 million purse. Additionally, the purse will increase by $200,000 each year through 2021.
Cory Schneider made 25 saves to earn his second shutout of the season for New Jersey.
Reilly Smith, Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad all scored in the second period for Florida, and Roberto Luongo had 33 saves.
Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist as New York ended Edmonton’s six-game winning streak.
Shayne Gostisbehere scored 1:42 into overtime for Philadelphia.
Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 2:59 remaining in overtime to win it for Tampa Bay. He also had an assist.
Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist for San Jose, and Martin Jones made 26 saves.
Kris Russell scored 1:23 into overtime to give Calgary its sixth straight victory.
Thomas Vanek scored one of Minnesota’s three power-play goals and added three assists.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Paul Stastny scored third-period goals to rally St. Louis.
Patrick Kane’s streak with at least one point ended at 26 games as Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves.
Tyler Seguin had two goals in Dallas’ victory, and Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 shots.
Goaltender Mike Smith had surgery to repair a core muscle injury and will miss eight to 10 weeks.
Chicago acquired defenseman Rob Scuderi from the Penguins for defenseman Trevor Daley.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been diagnosed with a concussion and will miss at least one to two weeks.
Florida sent slumping forward Dave Bolland, making $5.5 million, to Portland of the AHL.
Minnesota claimed center Jarret Stoll off waivers from the New York Rangers. Stoll, 33, has one goal and three points in 29 games. He has struggled to return to form after reaching a plea deal on two drug charges.