Scott eyes major breakthrough
Source: Agencies |
August 9, 2011, Tuesday
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A GLARING gap on Adam Scott's otherwise impressive resume has been the lack of a major title but his commanding victory at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday suggested that could soon change.
Leading from the front, the 31-year-old Australian completed a wire-to-wire win by four shots in a manner often seen in the past by Tiger Woods, a seven-time champion at this venue.
Scott fired a flawless five-under-par 65 on the tree-lined South Course at Firestone Country Club in Ohio, making clutch par putts when needed to and giving himself a timely jolt of confidence for next week's PGA Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
"I ended up playing a really solid round of golf for this golf course," Scott told reporters after claiming his first title in one of the elite World Golf Championships.
"This is obviously one of the biggest wins of my career, to win a World Golf Championship is what I set out to do this year along with the majors, a real focus on the big events. I think I've done a pretty good job so far of getting myself in the hunt. That's the goal - to give myself a chance to win these big events."
Long regarded as a future world No. 1, Scott has won eight times on the highly competitive PGA Tour and on 11 other occasions elsewhere around the world.
Though he has generally failed to make a significant impact at the majors, he signalled that could soon end when he shared second place at the Masters in April.
"For whatever reason, I haven't performed my best but I really feel like I've got a good plan in place to get myself ready for these events now," Scott said.
He finished at 17-under 263 for the lowest winning score at Firestone since Woods won at 259 in 2000. Rickie Fowler and world No. 1 Luke Donald each had a 66 and tied for second.
Ishikawa, who stayed with Scott for most of the round until the Australian pulled away, made a bogey on the last hole for a 69 that dropped him into a tie for fourth with Jason Day (69). It was the highest finish in America for the Japanese star.
Woods opened with two birdies on the opening five holes before he "absolutely lost it" with his game, dropping five shots and not hitting a fairway on seven straight tee shots. He made three straight birdies late for a 70.
Qualify
He at least got close to the No. 125 cutoff to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the month, leaving him only next week at the PGA Championship to qualify.
Perhaps the two most significant changes in Scott's approach to the game have been his decision to switch to a long putter and his new partnership with New Zealand caddie Steve Williams, who split from Woods last month.
"It's been huge for me," Scott said of his putter. "I was so inconsistent with the short putter. I didn't know what was going to show up when I went out on the golf course, whether it was going to be a decent stroke or not.
"The long putter has certainly provided me with more consistency, and with that has come the confidence. I think I'm really solid over any putt at the moment."
Leading from the front, the 31-year-old Australian completed a wire-to-wire win by four shots in a manner often seen in the past by Tiger Woods, a seven-time champion at this venue.
Scott fired a flawless five-under-par 65 on the tree-lined South Course at Firestone Country Club in Ohio, making clutch par putts when needed to and giving himself a timely jolt of confidence for next week's PGA Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
"I ended up playing a really solid round of golf for this golf course," Scott told reporters after claiming his first title in one of the elite World Golf Championships.
"This is obviously one of the biggest wins of my career, to win a World Golf Championship is what I set out to do this year along with the majors, a real focus on the big events. I think I've done a pretty good job so far of getting myself in the hunt. That's the goal - to give myself a chance to win these big events."
Long regarded as a future world No. 1, Scott has won eight times on the highly competitive PGA Tour and on 11 other occasions elsewhere around the world.
Though he has generally failed to make a significant impact at the majors, he signalled that could soon end when he shared second place at the Masters in April.
"For whatever reason, I haven't performed my best but I really feel like I've got a good plan in place to get myself ready for these events now," Scott said.
He finished at 17-under 263 for the lowest winning score at Firestone since Woods won at 259 in 2000. Rickie Fowler and world No. 1 Luke Donald each had a 66 and tied for second.
Ishikawa, who stayed with Scott for most of the round until the Australian pulled away, made a bogey on the last hole for a 69 that dropped him into a tie for fourth with Jason Day (69). It was the highest finish in America for the Japanese star.
Woods opened with two birdies on the opening five holes before he "absolutely lost it" with his game, dropping five shots and not hitting a fairway on seven straight tee shots. He made three straight birdies late for a 70.
Qualify
He at least got close to the No. 125 cutoff to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the month, leaving him only next week at the PGA Championship to qualify.
Perhaps the two most significant changes in Scott's approach to the game have been his decision to switch to a long putter and his new partnership with New Zealand caddie Steve Williams, who split from Woods last month.
"It's been huge for me," Scott said of his putter. "I was so inconsistent with the short putter. I didn't know what was going to show up when I went out on the golf course, whether it was going to be a decent stroke or not.
"The long putter has certainly provided me with more consistency, and with that has come the confidence. I think I'm really solid over any putt at the moment."
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