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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

May 31, 2019

Adam Scott

Dublin, Ohio

Q. 66 in the second round. Seven birdies against just one bogey. How were able to get it done in these conditions today here at Muirfield Village Golf Club?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it's good conditions. There's not a breath of wind out there, and the course is still pretty soft. You've got to take advantage of that. The greens are a nice speed. When we got out this morning after being cut and rolled I managed to get some putts in. My short game is really good today, actually. A few poor shots I hit I managed to scramble pretty well and then hit a few good ones.

Q. We've been able to observe your putting the last few days, and regardless if it's a long putt, medium length, short, it seems your touch is really on point this week.
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it's one of the big benefits for me putting with the long putter is my speed gets really good. That's just always been the case. And I putt fairly well at the US PGA first week back out with the long one, and you get on nice greens like this, get the confidence up, it's nice to see them rolling in the hole.

Q. What is it about this course when you look back at your record that you've had so much success throughout the appearance and you've only missed the cut one time and three top-5 finishes?
ADAM SCOTT: It really sets up well for me, and I feel like I've played a lot of good golf here over the years, just never four days in a row. It's just never been quite enough. But I've shot some of my really great rounds of my career here. I remember 62 in '06 that was such a good round of golf on a very, very difficult golf course that day. It just sets up well for me. I love coming here.

Q. 71 yesterday and 66 today. What improved in your play?
ADAM SCOTT: A bit of everything, really. My short game was very good today. I just wasn't quite on yesterday, didn't have a feel for the ball yesterday. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't right there on my lines all the time and I was a bit better today. A few poor shots I scrambled really well.

Q. Obviously, you went out this morning, very little wind, receptive greens. When you got it in the fairway, did it feel like a real sense of opportunity?
ADAM SCOTT: A little bit. There was still some pins that were tight to the edge. So, yeah, there is, but you've got to be on point. You can't miss the wrong side or you're going to be struggling. But the greens were just rolling a little bit more Muirfield pace this morning. They had that feeling about them. They were rolling out.

Q. You told us recently that you were focused on target and just freewheeling. How are you doing this week?
ADAM SCOTT: Pretty good. It's always funny, it's easy to say that, but then when it really matters on the golf course, there's plenty of thoughts that come in the way.

But I've done a pretty good job. Yesterday I was a little bit in my own head with the golf swing thinking about it, trying to find a little bit of rhythm out there. Today it was better. Hopefully I can just improve a bit over the weekend. It would be nice.

Q. Comments on your second round.
ADAM SCOTT: It was a good round. Obviously, 66 around here is very good. I kind of needed it to get myself in this golf tournament for the weekend. We had great conditions this morning. Generally all parts of my play were good. When I hit a poor shot, my short game was there that saved me. And I hit a few really good shots, too, and made some nice putts. Very happy with today.

Q. Can you reflect back on where you were mentally in this tournament a year ago, with sectionals hanging over your head, how have things changed this time around?
ADAM SCOTT: I think it was definitely some frustration in my game 12 months ago at this point. It wasn't like I was just playing horrible, but I just really couldn't get anything to go my way. If I did something good, the other part of my game was ordinary. And I guess that had gone on for a while. And it takes its toll on the brain.

So I remember being here on the weekend and knowing I probably had a top-10 or something to qualify, and I was right there for just a good round on Sunday to do it, and I just played really average. I had the experience of going to qualifying for the first time in a long time. But in the end it was a good experience, I guess.

Q. You were wavering a little bit about whether you would do the sectional. Can you take us through that? Was that at all part of the frustration, that you just didn't want to put yourself through that?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it wasn't that I didn't want to put myself through that. It was just I think I played five in a row and I had done that with the idea that I can get in by doing that. And I had just played a lot of golf, not just that five in a row, but I added more tournaments early in the year, and I was already in the British Open. I mean, at the time I didn't know what the right thing to do was. When you're frustrated and not sure of which move to make, that's how it feels.

So I honestly didn't know. But I think life probably got the better of me and thought you should go and qualify and at least you've given it everything, rather than sitting home on the couch watching, you know you didn't give up your spot there.

Q. Was there a point last year when it turned for you where you just kind of -- you thought your form was coming back and the frustration was subsiding a little bit?
ADAM SCOTT: Probably around between the U.S. Open and The Open last year I started to feel like I was getting some kind of peace of mind about my game. And then I played fairly well at The Open, just not on Sunday.

I think I shot 1-over on Sunday and kind of fell out of the top-10. But it felt like I was in control of things. And then I went and played well at the PGA soon after that.

Q. What's the biggest difference you feel right now versus where you were 12 months ago?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I've changed a lot of stuff, I have to say. I basically -- I've changed the way my equipment is set up. I started working with Brad again. I've changed trainer. I've changed caddies. I've changed putter. Oh, no, I was using a long putter. I can't remember. I've used so many. Lots of changes. But hopefully there's some consistency to come now.

Q. What have you learned from putting yourself in contention most tournaments since July of last year, particularly this year on the weekends?
ADAM SCOTT: I think I kind of -- well, I did a really good job of it at the PGA, just getting out of my own way on the weekend, and I played really well and I hung in there right to the end. It's funny, and so quickly then the expectation changes and it's now you need to win tournaments. And it just hasn't happened. It's just about kind of doing what I did at that PGA and staying out of my own way and not really thinking about outcomes and all that cliche mental stuff and just play with a bit of confidence and a bit of fun.

Q. When you were here last year and going through that spell, for all you've accomplished leading up to that point, where was that in terms of low points for you in terms of your game and your outlook about life? Just given where you've been over the years prior to that?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I wasn't playing that poorly. I mean, I was playing much -- as far as bad spells, itself, I think back to 2009 I was playing horribly, and it wasn't anything like that. I think I missed six or seven cuts in a row that year on Tour. But my consistent really average golf for 12 months leading up to this point last year made me fall out of a category to qualify. So as far as low points, I don't think it was -- I felt a bit lost. I didn't know where the ball was going.

Q. You said it was probably a good thing playing in the qualifier. Can you expand on that a little bit? Is that because it taught you something?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it was definitely pride. I wanted to be at the U.S. Open. Unsatisfied just mailing it in and sitting on the couch when I could have been given a start. And that's always nice to see if you've got anything inside and actually want it. So that was a good test for me.

Q. Since this is the only PGA Tour event in Ohio now, is it somewhat of a bummer -- that was a big victory for you at Bridgestone. Is it disappointing you may not play there again until you're 50?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it is. No, it is disappointing. I mean, we went through this same kind of feeling with Doral a few years ago, after going there many, many years, and many years before me going there. And we don't go there anymore.

And I think it's going to be the same with Akron. We're going to miss it because it was just -- it was such a great event, and it was one that you felt privileged to be in, and it was a hell of a golf course to try and beat any given week there.

Q. That was a big victory.
ADAM SCOTT: Yes, it was.

Q. Do you still think about how big that was for you?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it was a pivotal victory. I just kind of -- it was a couple of years after I was playing really poorly to break through and win a World Golf Championship, is a significant moment in anyone's career, really.

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