Scott welcomed back with open arms as stars align for Moonah
Whether Adam Scott would or wouldn't play in next month's Australian Open at Moonah Links had not quite reached saga proportions, but it was well down the track until yesterday when the world No.8 finally ended speculation by lodging his entry form just six days before the deadline.
To say the Australian Golf Union was delighted when confirmation of the 25-year-old's entry came through would be an understatement, for it completes the roll-call of all the Australian internationals, save for Steve Elkington, who remains undecided, and now it can be categorically stated it is a better field than last year's Centenary Open at The Australian.
Scott has not played the open since 2002, when he finished ninth behind Victorian Steve Allan in the championship that caused mirth around the world when the opening day's play in brilliant sunshine was abandoned after the greens, slickened up for the occasion, were declared unplayable, with the result the event was reduced to 54 holes.
Last year, he was otherwise occupied in the annual US skins game in company with Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Fred Couples. And, in 2003, the date of the open was changed to the week before Christmas due to a clash of its original date with the final of the Davis Cup, won by Australia against Spain, with telecaster Channel Seven saying tennis would be given priority over the golf if they were played at the same time. For Scott, the changed date was all too close to the festive season after a long year.
Scott yesterday told the Herald by phone from his Swiss home of his decision and also his indecision in recent weeks.
"[Playing in the open] is something I now look forward to," he said. "I'm just excited to come back and play, it's my first open for a couple of years, so I just want to get there and do the business - hopefully.
"I've been weighing up all my options. I'm in a position where I have a lot of opportunities and I'm trying to do what's in my best interests. You can't keep everyone happy. I'm not playing the following week in the PGA, a tournament I've played in the past couple of years, because I've accepted the invite to Sun City [the exclusive and mega-rich Nedbank Challenge in South Africa] where there are good world ranking points on offer."
AGU executive director Colin Phillips was a relieved man yesterday, saying: "I am delighted Adam is going to be in the field. It really completes a field of all the top Australians and I'm sure he'll enjoy his outing at Moonah."
That remains to be seen. Scott has played the Peter Thomson layout just once, four years ago, shortly after its opening.
"I don't remember much about it except the severity of the greens," he said. "They were all raised and the run-off was really severe." He was somewhat heartened to hear that since then, five greens have been altered to make them, according to Phillips, "a little fairer". After all, putting since the US Open in June hasn't exactly been Scott's strong point, with a litany of short putts missed and a failure to hole those around the four- to five-metre mark.
"I've been working on some stuff with my putting and, hopefully, it will be right next week in Tampa [where Scott will play the Chrysler Championship as a lead-in to the PGA Tour Championship and Greg Norman's Shark Shoot-out]," he said.
Scott is yet to win on home soil, but he has triumphed on the Australasian Tour, winning this year's Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing which is a tri-sanctioned event with Europe and Asia.
Early in the year, he won the Los Angeles Open, though it is not an official US PGA Tour victory as it was reduced to 36 holes because of bad weather, and last month he claimed the Singapore Open on the Asian Tour. Not a bad year's work so far.
"[Failure to win so far in Australia] is not something I think about all the time," Scott said. "I'm pretty sure I'll win eventually. I'm sure when I do it will be more satisfying than anything else, but I don't really think I've got anything to prove by winning in Australia, though it would be of some personal satisfaction. I would be very proud to win back home."
If not at the Australian Open, then maybe in February, when he defends his JWC title at The Vines in Perth. Just recently, Scott completed a television commercial for the tournament. "I don't want to spoil it, but it involves golf buggies, trees and alligators [shipped into San Francisco] for the making of the ad," he said. "I didn't make contact with the 'gators, but I got a little close."
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