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THE NORTHERN TRUST

August 24, 2018

Adam Scott

Paramus, New Jersey

Q. How important was the par save? And the birdie on 12 was ridiculous.
ADAM SCOTT: The par on 11 was what I haven't done most of the year or all year. It just shows momentum is a big thing and kept my round going and I birdied three in a row I think after that to kind of keep everything feeling good the way it was. You know, you make a couple bogeys in a row, and potentially make a meal of 12 from everywhere I was, and a round falls apart and it's really average, middle of the pack stuff.

Really nice to see, keeping it clean coming in, and especially making the one on the last feels good, too, because I missed the one on the last yesterday.

Q. Would you say you're comfortable being back in contention after a lengthy period?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, very much. I was partially surprised how good I felt Sunday of the PGA, especially late on the back nine because I haven't been there for awhile, and you're never sure, but it was really great. It felt like that's where I'm meant to be and I played really well in that situation I thought. So that certainly gave me a taste of it, and made me a little more hungry. It's been good to play my way into it for the weekend. Tomorrow is another big day and I'd like to have another taste of it on Sunday.

Q. You said at the PGA you're swinging like a young Adam. Does it still feel that way?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it does, absolutely. There's a lot more freedom. I don't know if you can see that or not, but it feels like that, and it's probably as much in the head as physically I think because I don't think I can turn back the clock that much physically.

Q. So everything old is new again?
ADAM SCOTT: It all comes around, yeah.

Q. Seeing the scores, a day or in a row, what that does for you, not just today but a couple weeks ago and before that.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, the confidence is way up, and it doesn't take much. It's just been very hard to find that consistency for me this year, and I've been chipping away at it the last couple months and it all came good at the PGA, and teeing off this week, I felt the most confident of any tournament I've picked it up in this year.

I just couldn't wait to get up here, really, after the PGA.

Q. Why do you feel that way?
ADAM SCOTT: Just because I found golf easier than it has been, and it's just how it is. I mean, just a calmness in my mind and a calmness in my swing and a calmness in my putting stroke, and no pressure putt on myself or being anxious to see how I perform, more knowing how I'm going to perform I think.

Q. What did you do sort of the week after Bellerive? Did you relax and look at video highlights, have a nice bottle of red and savor what you did that week?
ADAM SCOTT: No, I didn't, actually. I tried to rest a bit. I didn't play. I didn't touch the golf clubs till Saturday and Sunday last week because I'm hoping to have a busy month upcoming with golf. So I thought I'd take a rest.

You know, I thought about it and I thought a lot about what I did really great and what I wished I did a little better at the end, and how good Brooks did coming down the stretch, and even if I did a little better, would it have been good enough? You don't know, but I was right there and that's what I liked about it. But I wanted, you know, to take all the positives and bring them here because I think, you know, in my position at the moment, I've got a lot to gain over the next few weeks of big golf tournaments.

Q. Did you at any stage start to doubt your longevity for the last little bit?
ADAM SCOTT: No, not really, because compared to other times when I've played poorly, it wasn't really like rank golf. My average scores were 1- or 2-over, and I'd still shoot a couple over.

But it was just mediocre. I didn't like it. But it wasn't like I was blowing out and shooting massive numbers and couldn't play. I just couldn't quite put it all together for a while.

Yeah, it was frustrating for sure.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the two putters in the bag. Do you have a short answer and a long answer?
ADAM SCOTT: Very good. The answer is: I've been working with the short putter for a couple of months now and it's really good, and I put it in to try and hole a few more putts, you know, at 15 to 20 feet which is where I've really been poor. And ever since it's gone in, the stroke has just really gotten so much better with the long one that I haven't really thought about pulling it out.

I've used it twice in the four tournaments --

Q. You used twice?
ADAM SCOTT: I did. I used it on one green in Akron. I hit two putts with it, and then I put it back in the bag.

Q. What did you do to the rest of your set to make room for it?
ADAM SCOTT: I had a 2-, 3- and 4-iron, and I took out the three and four and strengthened a 4-iron.

Q. Just to clarify, how far were those two putts?
ADAM SCOTT: One was 20 feet, and the other was a tap-in (laughter). It was like 20 feet and a tap-in.

Q. Did it just not feel right?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it was against the collar.

Q. What's the history of the short one? Have I won anything with it?
ADAM SCOTT: Have I won anything with it? Not that particular one, no. It's a new putter. But I really -- I mean, the stroke looks great, and when I go on the putting green, all I do is make everything with it. I just decided, you know, to give it -- logically, it sounds good to me to have a putter you like for long putts and one for short putts, if that's how you want to do it. You hit 40 percent of your shots with one club and 60 with the other. I haven't really used anything else, I haven't really used it, so it is kind of a waste, but as long as I'm putting well with the long one, I don't really care.

Q. Are you using the short one this week?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I thought the first four holes yesterday, I just burned the edge and I was getting frustrated quickly, because I had hit it quite close on those holes and hit good putts. I thought, maybe this is a sign that I should pull out the short one, but I persisted with the long one.

Q. How have your playing partners reacted to seeing it?
ADAM SCOTT: I can't remember who I was playing with the first day at Akron, but they were worried for Sponge because it was his first day and they thought I had 15 clubs in the bag. (Laughter) So they didn't say anything, so they weren't that worried.

Q. We all hear little bits and pieces on commentary and social media, and I'm sure you do, as well, but does it irritate you or annoy you when people see you putting with the stroke you use and saying, how is this not anchoring? I'm sure you've heard that.
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it's not anchoring. It's not.

Q. Don't you get a sense that there are certain people out there -- I'm sure Langer has dealt with it, as well?
ADAM SCOTT: I don't know. I'm not really on social media. I don't really see it. The way it is, there's a lot of stuff you could comment about the Rules of Golf about how is this and not that and how is this and how other people do things. They seem to have created a lot of gray areas that certainly I'd be careful of accusing people of breaking the rules.

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