Let's Hear It for Adam Scott!

by Ryan Ballengee on May 17, 2010 12:52 PM EDT in Pro Golf

For the better part of a year now, Waggle Room has been hassling Adam Scott in an on-again-off-again kind of way. The Australian had really been struggling, particularly through the '09 season in which Scott failed to finish inside the top 35 of any event after March 1. He spoke at length and repeatedly with reporters to indicate that he felt his game was coming around, his mechanics were improving, and that we would see the results soon.

Those signs never really materialized in '09, but started to a few weeks ago. He played well in Houston, was in the Masters and fared very well there (T14, T18 respectively). A missed cut in Charlotte kept him under the radar. The site of the Texas Open, though, provided Scott with a bizarre sense of home cooking. San Antonio is awfully far from home, but Scott saw a lot of elements of Australian courses at the Oaks Course at TPC San Antontio. Seeing as though Greg Norman shaped the course, that makes total sense.

"Greg's greens are a lot like some of the sandbelt greens back at home - that design and the bunkering," Scott said after the win. "I felt comfortable on it and I think a lot of the other Aussies did, too, because there were a lot of Aussies up there through 36 holes this week"

In the final day 36 hole shootout (which golf could use more of, really), Scott performed his best of the week just as the field was beginning to gather their wits about the Norman design. Average scores decreased each day as the players adjusted to the slower, undulating greens.

This was Scott's first win since the '08 Nelson, which must have seemed light years away for the Aussie. The distance between his sixth and seventh PGA Tour wins was quite a long one despite the distance between the two sites being pretty small. The Nelson is this week in the reborn Texas Swing on Tour. Texas treats Scott well. Three of his now seven Tour wins have come there.

When asked about the Texas connection, Scott made a simple correlation.

"I've enjoyed all the golf courses I've played here and I think when you enjoy the golf course and like playing, it goes a long way for your attitude out on the golf course and sometimes your attitude affects some balances and some putts. If you're in good spirits good things happen."

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Since you said it...

…WHY does the Tour need more 36 hole days ?

I guess nobody pointed out that Norman’s original design was a nightmare even to himself and he had to practially start over from scratch – costing everybody time and money. It’s shameful for a noted designer to do things like that. We have several Norman courses in the Atlanta area and none are very player friendly. Pretty – but not very well designed…including TPC Sugarloaf.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on May 17, 2010 1:19 PM EDT reply actions

The SI golf guys shared an interesting anecdote about a course Norman opened in VA. They said that someone came up to Norman before the round to open the course and said that he would pledge money to charity for every birdie Norman made. Course was so hard that Norman made no birdies.

I just like the idea of a 36 hole shootout. You know I’d like to see more format changes on Tour, and doing something like this could spice up medal play without having to introduce another format.

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on May 17, 2010 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I know what that SI guy means. We have a Norman course with a short par 4….I think I hit 5 iron to the corner and a wedge on…but one of the guys in our group took a 9 on the hole because this goofy green wouldn’t hold a chip shot. There are almost no places to land a chip and have it stop when the flag is in the back. Norman hit the green and spun it back off. He took a 3-wood and ran the ball up a 12’ hill and made a miracle putt for par. He told the group that he might be able to get up and down from there 1 in 5 tries – and amateur would be lucky to get up and down from that spot 1 in 20. Nice design work, Greggy.

A 36 hole shootout. That’s the stuff for an 8 or 16 player field in the fall – not 70 players in a regular tournament. Fun idea, but it doesn’t fit with regular season tournaments.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on May 17, 2010 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

If they can do it for an Open (like they used to), then they can do it on a regular Tour stop – provided that we enforce slow play rules. :)

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on May 17, 2010 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

just two letters...

T…….V

All those tournaments with 36 hole finals ended in the 40’s and 50’s. Re-pairing after the third round replaced random finishes where winners would finish an hour or more ahead of the last groups. You’re support is 60 years out of date.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on May 17, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions