Scott looks ahead to Open
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2011 The Open Championship | General | 07 Jul 2011
Now just a week away from the third major of the year, the Open Championship, it was a confident Adam Scott who spoke during a teleconference for Australian golf journalists today.
“Everything feels very good in my game and getting acclimatised to links golf over the next week before we tee off is going to be the key,” said Scott from London today. “I am going to play just at St Georges starting this afternoon and I will be there right through now.
“I think the best preparation is to play the golf course you are going to play,” he added when responding to a question whether he would play any other links courses in the lead-up.
“You need to get a good understanding and a good feel for it and get comfortable on the tee shots. We all know a lot of trouble is hidden on these courses and if you are feeling comfortable that you know where everything is from the tee then it is important. I will try and get in at least one round every day between now and next week.”
Scott missed the cut in his only previous appearance at Royal St Georges in 2003 but believes that was a case of poor golf rather than the golf course suiting his game or otherwise. “I’m going in there pretty fresh and hopefully not drawing on many experiences from the last time there.”
Scott will again have the services of Steve Williams on the bag next week and is delighted. “It has been fun having Steve caddy for me the last couple of weeks. I enjoyed it last week being thereabouts on the weekend so I am really happy Steve is going to be able to make it over and hopefully we can keep it rolling next week.”
“I think we have adapted pretty well to each other,” he added referring to the combination the two have worked out. “He has adjusted really quickly to my game, he is ultra professional and I thought we worked really well together last week and learned more about each other as we played late on Sunday which might be important if we get into a similar position next week.
“He is a very confident caddie. When he speaks he speaks with confidence and that is a good thing going through to the player. He leaves no doubt in a players mind. He thinks like a world class player which is perhaps no surprise given who he has caddied for over his career and that was the first thing I noticed at the US Open as he made sure I was in the best positions to give myself the best chance.”
Scott talked about the runner-up finish at Augusta National and how that has impacted on his game. “I am still taking some confidence from the Masters as it was nice to play well when I needed to. It is good to know that if I get in that position again that I can play well and execute my shots under those circumstances.”
Scott’s record at the Open Championship leaves a lot to be desired but you could sense that this is a young man with now a far greater belief in his capacity to contend at the absolute highest level.
“I think my putting has been a little more consistent which makes golf that much easier. When you know when you can walk out and rely on your putting keeping you together that is a very calming influence on my game. I think that is what I have been feeling when I go onto the course this year. It doesn’t really matter how I play I can rely on my putting to get me through one bad day, especially at an Open if it is windy where you are going to have to scramble because you game is a little off.
“I think now that I am putting a lot better then I think that over time the consistency and better performances in Opens and Majors generally is going to come because of that belief in the putting.”
Scott made a late decision to play at last week’s AT&T National because he had missed the cut at the US Open and wanted to get his confidence up. “That’s why I entered. I was not originally planning on playing but after missing the cut at the Open after hitting it in the water at the last (36th hole) I was annoyed as I felt like I had done all the work and was not playing that badly.
“I decided then to enter the AT&T just to get a result and get the confidence up and tee off at the Open feeling like I am in good touch so in the end it was a good move to go to Aronomink and to a golf course I like a lot.”
Now that Jason Day has taken over as the leading world ranked Australian how has that impacted on the expectation factor he has always carried during his career? “That was a position I was comfortable with but it was just taking me some time to figure out what worked best for me as far as majors go.
“Watching Jason though has been great over the last eighteen months. Winning the tournament in Dallas last year kind of opened the gates and when you see him around the place now you see that confidence. He can carry the weight of expectation no problem at all and it seems like he has everything under control. He is on the right track and it is nice to see.”
When asked as to what he needs to do to be considered amongst Australia’s best ever players he responded. “I need to win major championships. That’s where I am at with my career. I have won a lot of golf tournaments including a couple of big ones such as the Players and the Tour Championships but no majors and at the end of the day a player’s career is based on how many majors they have won.
“The focus for the rest of my career is trying to play my best for those four weeks of the year and I will base everything else around that. That’s what I really enjoy about playing golf is getting myself ready for the majors and everything else is part of the process.
“I honestly feel like it could be any week. There is no one particular major that suits me better than another. I think I have a game that can contend and hopefully win in all majors.
“So to win next week would be a hell of a start although the goal for the week is to get myself into that position on Sunday where I have a legitimate chance to win.”
Compared to where he was twelve months ago when everyone felt for a player whose tee to green game was in such good shape but whose putting nearly drove him to distraction this is a new look Adam Scott.
“Last year (at St Andrews) was about boiling point for me. I could not get anything out of my good play at all. But now I feel I am walking on the golf course with complete confidence in what is going to happen and to have everything under control on the greens is a nice feeling and a nice way to play golf. It is a lot easier to play tournaments when that is how you feel walking on a golf course.”
Scott gave the first indication that he might yet play the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship. After earlier in the year suggesting he would likely play the Singapore Open which he has won the last three years and runs opposite the Australian Open it was quite a revelation.
“I am still working on getting myself in the Presidents Cup team. As long as I am in that team then I will certainly be playing some golf in Australia. I would like to play the Australian Open and the Australian PGA around the Presidents Cup that would be the plan but my number one priority is to get myself in the Presidents Cup team.”
That would appear to be a given.
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