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JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC

April 20, 2005

Adam Scott

BEIJING, CHINA

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Ladies and gentlemen, we've got Adam Scott with us.

Adam, thanks for coming in. Welcome to the Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing. Just your thoughts about playing this event, your first time in China.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, very exciting to be here in China for the first time. I've already seen The Great Wall, which was amazing, last night. You know, it's a real cultural experience for myself and a lot of other guys this week, so I'm looking forward to it.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: You've got a win in America already this year and a few Top-10s, as well. You must be pleased with your progress in 2005.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, my play this year has been pretty good. I was a little disappointed at how I played at Augusta two weeks ago, but apart from that, everything's been very good and hopefully I can get a win on the board here.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Have you had a chance to play the golf course here, Adam?

ADAM SCOTT: No, not yet. This wind is a little bit of a problem here, so yesterday was better to not play. But I'm going to play the Pro-Am this afternoon.

The course looks good, the greens and everything, are nice. Jack Nicklaus golf courses are pretty good. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Welcome to China. Most of us think, I think all of us think, you are the most handsome and youngest golfer, and you are my idol. So do you feel pressure that you are the most handsome? (Laughter)

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think because I'm young is a good thing. I made Monty (Colin Montgomerie) come in here before me, so that makes me look -- (laughter).

No, that's very kind of you. No, no pressure. Just need to play good golf I think.

Q. Can you talk about the advantages of playing on both Tours?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think, you know, just the difference in conditions that you play in, the different players you play against; you're not playing against the same guys all the time; the different styles of golf courses you can play on. I think all of that gives you a more rounded game and you can improve on all parts of your game.

I think maybe only playing in the U.S. or only playing in Europe or only playing in Asia, that's okay, but if you've got the opportunity to play elsewhere, I think that's important and you get a more well-rounded game. I think the majors ask more of you, more out of every aspect of your game. And I think being a world player, you're better off in the majors. If you're looking at performing in those tournaments, playing in all variety of conditions really helps that. I think Augusta and Royal Melbourne's greens are similar, and that's great for us, even though an Australian hasn't won. Or the British Open; there's no golf course in America that can prepare you for St. Andrews or Royal Troon.

Q. I'll take that one step further in your answer. When you don't perform well in the Masters, like, say, Ernie did a few weeks ago, does someone like him deserve the criticism of the schedule he maintains?

ADAM SCOTT: No. I don't think so. I think he's been put in this Big Four that we have at the moment, and the guy had an off-week. It's his poorest finish in a major in about seven years, and he still made the cut. He finished way down the field, but that's how this game goes. So much is expected of the top players now that it's almost unfair pressure. You know, I think he took some criticism because he travels too much, but I think that's also part of the reason why Ernie Els is as good of a player as he is.

Q. You've had a great year obviously, you've cracked the Top-10, you've won a couple of big tournaments on the U.S. Tour. What's the next step for you, and what do you think your goals are for this season and how do you see yourself going about getting them?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, my goal for this year was to obviously win tournaments, but you know, I wanted to put a little more emphasis on performing better at the majors. Although I didn't have my best Masters, it wasn't bad. I was hanging in there for a long while, and with the delays and everything, it felt like I was going all right for three days, but we were still in the first round.

So really just focus on the majors a little more. To do that, I think winning tournaments is great preparation. So even coming to the Johnnie Walker here this week, really getting focused on giving myself a chance to win. Just been working hard on the game, putting a little more time into it.

Q. If it doesn't work out, you can probably do a modeling contract here or something like that.

ADAM SCOTT: Maybe in China, yeah. (Laughter). In China I'll be all right, yeah.

Q. There's a big Australian contingent here this week. Do you guys ever get together after the tournament to have a beer or anything like that?

ADAM SCOTT: Oh, yeah. Every tournament I play in now, there's at least ten Aussies playing in it. Really fantastic for the game back at home, how strong we are at the moment. You know, we're all pretty good guys and we all get along really well.

So, yeah, we love to catch up for a beer and have a good night at least once a week, anyway.

Q. You have very outstanding looks, so after you achieve what you want to achieve in golf, would you consider maybe being an entertainer?

ADAM SCOTT: An entertainer? Well, I can't sing. I can't dance. So I don't know where that leaves me. I don't think --

Q. Movies?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, yeah, maybe. I can't act, either. I think by the time I'm finished with golf, I'll be too old and I won't be looking any good at all, so no good.

Q. You are young, handsome and you are one of the favorite golf players among the Chinese audience, especially girls, so could you say some words to our TV audience?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, it's nice to be here in China for the first time, and I look forward to playing this week, and hopefully everyone please come out and watch and support and I'll try and play my best and make some birdies.

Q. You and Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey are all the reigning stars and you are very young. How do you think of the other two players, and who do you think will win the first major of you three?

ADAM SCOTT: Out of the three of us? Hopefully me (laughing). But they are very good players, and I think Sergio Garcia is really, you know, the first young guy apart from Tiger Woods to do so well. He's been out here for six years I think now, and he's been ranked up to No. 4 in the world. I think he probably deserves to win a major sometime soon. He's a very good player.

Paul and Luke Donald and myself, we'll try and get there one day. I think we'll all win a major, but I think Sergio has been the outstanding young player for the last six years.

Q. What are you and Butch Harmon (swing coach) working on these days? Are you in the so-called maintenance stage or are you still trying to improve your swing in some ways? Also, what do you think about Tiger switching to the one-plane swing theory instead of Butch Harmon's teaching for all those years?

ADAM SCOTT: Butch and I are always trying to improve my swing, but you have to try to play good golf, as well. So it's some maintenance, just making sure nothing too wrong is happening. It's been pretty good. It's getting more consistent, and in the past, that's where I've struggled, but this year it's been pretty good. I've been hitting the ball pretty good every week. So that's a sign we're on the right track there, but it's really mostly maintenance. So I'm very happy with what we've been doing with the swing.

You know, Tiger's obviously found his rhythm now with this new swing of his that he's worked on. He's won three times this year with a Masters, as well. He's back to probably where he's wanting to be. He's on his way right back to where he used to be, and obviously the changes he's made are coming together now.

Q. Did you do anything special to prepare for this?

ADAM SCOTT: Did I prepare especially for this? Nothing too special. I didn't know what to expect, really. I'm enjoying it so far. There's so much to see here. We saw The Great Wall last night, and I think on the weekend we're going to Tiananmen Square, and I'm very interested to see what it looks like and the quite fascinating history you have.

So it's nice, and hopefully I get the chance to come back many more times and play golf and see more of the country.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: With that, Adam, we'll close the press conference. Thank you for lending your skills and good looks for this event.

ADAM SCOTT: Thank you very much. (Laughter.)

End of FastScripts.

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