Change of scenery has Adam Scott comfortable, ready to compete
Change of scenery has Adam Scott comfortable, ready to compete:- Seems all Adam Scott needed was a change of scenery to see a change in his game.
In his first start on the PGA Tour this year, Scott had a so-so time at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles in last week’s Genesis Open. His usually stellar tee-to-green was a tad wayward as he knocked off some rust following a refreshing break from the game. While he still managed a tie for 11th, Scott wasn’t pleased when he left one of his favorite venues in the world, labeling his outing as “good and bad.”
His mood, however, perked up as soon as he stepped onto the grounds here at the PGA National Resort & Spa. It was here, after all, that he won last year’s Honda Classic, holding off Sergio Garcia and holding up against a wind-swept and hazard-filled Champion Course for a one-shot victory. The win was the first of a two-week Florida blitz for the 13-time PGA Tour winner as he captured the following week’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
Good memories from last year,” Scott said Wednesday after his pro-am round. “Some of my best golf I've ever played … was here last year. So as soon as I stepped on a few tees, I've seen a few better shots than I've been watching last week. Just got that good feeling coming back and I'm quite happy with where things sit after last week.”
Scott, 36, also saw a good many nice shots on the practice range as he ironed out a few deficiencies in his game, especially with his driver.
“I'm not the straightest driver of the golf ball but I normally hit my fair share, and I didn't last week, and that made it pretty hard to score around Riviera,” he said. “My score was pretty good considering I felt I hit the ball well below par for me. It was just some alignment stuff, basic things, angles, dangles, all that, so they are straightened out.”
The world No. 7, however, didn’t enjoy seeing every tee during his practice round and the pro-am. Then again, there aren’t many players who like to gaze at the Bear Trap – a three-hole stretch of mean starting on the 15th. Last year, Scott made a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 15th in the third round as he deposited two balls into the water hazard guarding the green.
But he managed to shoot a 4-under-par 66 that day and then became the next day the first PGA Tour winner to make a quadruple bogey since Phil Mickelson in 2009.
“There’s no room for error,” Scott said of the Bear Trap.
With his swing back on plane, Scott, as has been the case the past six years, is presently eying the Masters. After racking up 11 top-10s in the majors from 2011-2015, including capturing his lone major title in the 2013 Masters, his best finish last year in the game’s four biggest events was a tie for 18th in the PGA Championship. That pushed Scott to change his schedule this year as he will play the week prior to each of the majors.
That means he’ll play this week’s Honda Classic, next week’s WGC-Mexico Championship and the Shell Houston Open the week prior to driving down Magnolia Lane. It’s not a tiring schedule, which is exactly the way Scott wants it to be.
“A big focus for me obviously is the majors, and I think I'll be very fresh when I get to Augusta,” he said. “But there's an important stretch of June through August, as well, which is months away, and a lot of golf before we get there and I want to make sure I'm fresh for that.
“For me, taking that significant break away is important, so that I can stay fresh. I don't know whether that means I'm old and not that fresh anymore but I think it's important for me to do that, and it's got some results in the past. With a few little modifications this year, I'm looking forward to getting some better results again.”
Source:- http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2017/02/22/adam-scott-pga-national-honda-classic/98268706/
