THE 152ND OPEN

July 20, 2024

Adam Scott

Mixed Zone

Q. A very different course today.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it's nice out there.

Q. Good day's work?

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it was. It was good. You can't really complain about 66, but when you're so far back, you kind of need everyone possible.

I think I got what I deserved out there. I played some fairly good golf and didn't make too many errors.

Q. It seems you had a hell of a round. How do you approach that this morning on the 1st tee? Just go and get it? What do you do?

ADAM SCOTT: A little bit. It's hard to be aggressive and carefree at the links. You can get in a lot of trouble with a careless shot.

I still think even though it's gettable, certainly on the front nine, it's more about execution. You can get it without taking any risk if you pull off good shots and hit 4-irons down the fairway and good 9-irons into greens and stuff you're meant to do as a golf pro rather than just bomb and gouge it around.

I still think at the links, even when it's not windy, the angles are so important. You can hit a good drive just down the right side and have no chance to hit it on the green with a lob wedge. Took some discipline not to just kind of attack, completely attack the front nine today.

If the wind gets up, I think the drivers could come out more on the front nine because you can start carrying bunkers. It will be interesting to watch. I'll be watching.

Q. I read a few previews, and a lot of people talk about your consistency and how many majors you've played in in a row, and that's nothing to be sniffing at. But do you want kind of more than that? Do you want to be known for more than being a steady Eddie? Do you really feel you've got it in your game to be in the mix at the end of day 4?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I'm probably not going to be in the mix, let's be honest. I'm likely nine shots behind, seven to nine shots behind, I would guess. If I am, then that's a bonus, but I'm going to need wind and everything to be in my favour to kind of be in the mix.

Yesterday kind of counted me out, with a lot of players who are not steady Eddies, fell out of contention yesterday.

Q. Did day 2 sort of strain your love of links golf?

ADAM SCOTT: No, no. I mean, I've played enough of them. I know that's how it goes. Someone reminded me that I was on the good side of the draw here in '16, so it all evens out, I guess.

Q. Adam, can you describe the difference between here and a place like Pinehurst? Both are difficult, but it seems like a different kind of player can excel here versus there.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it's subtle differences. I guess at Pinehurst with the setup the long hitting was still more of a reward, even if it wasn't very accurate. I don't know, I'd have to look and I haven't, but I'd assume the long hitting here isn't necessarily as rewarded.

Like I was babbling on about before, like positional play and executing that is almost more stress-free than just getting it up there and having a wedge that you can't really get close to the hole.

I'd think, if you looked at how Justin Rose played the first two rounds, I think that would be perfect kind of links golf play.

Q. Given the conditions today, did you have a score in mind, especially after making that good start?

ADAM SCOTT: 59 was mentioned before I went out.

Q. A bunker raker yesterday was talking, really nice young man, and he was saying he'd raked about 21 bunkers. How many bunkers have you been in so far?

ADAM SCOTT: This week?

Q. Yes.

ADAM SCOTT: A lot.

Q. A lot?

ADAM SCOTT: Yes, I'd say a lot. Today at least two. Yesterday probably way more. I must have been in at least two a day, I'd say.

Q. Really?

ADAM SCOTT: Yes, I would say so.

Q. Adam, only three guys are teeing off beyond 2-under today, but you're still expecting, with the weather coming in, that the lead is going to get further out there?

ADAM SCOTT: I do. I think the front nine is just going to play easy, and these are the guys playing the best. I think they can hang on coming in.

I just don't think it's getting so windy where disasters are going to happen maybe on a hole to slow them down, but there's good scores out there if you're playing well.

Q. Did you think 17 was going in?

ADAM SCOTT: The chip? Yeah, it looked good to me. I was excited for a second.

Q. Can you explain, Adam, exactly what has been so difficult this week?

ADAM SCOTT: What's been difficult?

Q. What's been difficult, yes. Sorry, silly question, but you've experienced it. What is it?

ADAM SCOTT: It's really just the wind. I think it blew the first two days not from the prevailing direction. Most courses are built for a prevailing wind. When it blows the other way, nothing really matches up very nicely.

I don't know, you could ask a left-hander. It might feel different for them. Even the first day, it seemed fairly calm out there. There was a bit of rain early. I played, I felt like, in fairly good conditions, but it was still hard to really get a score going. It was very across on every hole, on every hole it felt like.

Then yesterday was just fierce. It was really -- if you didn't start the ball on your intended line, it was going so far offline it was very hard to hit a fairway, let alone hit a green. I don't know, I didn't hit many greens yesterday.

Q. So it's wind?

ADAM SCOTT: It's the wind, yeah.

Q. But you guys, can do everything with a golf ball. You can hit it to within 10 feet from 200 yards. We struggle to understand how you can be affected so much by a wind like that.

ADAM SCOTT: Well, it's very hard to gauge exactly what it will do from 200 yards. I'm not a Trackman buffer by any stretch of the means, but for example, a 5-iron, if it has 5,000 spin versus 5,500 at 200 yards, it could be eight or nine yards difference. It's the finest margins at the highest level to be so good.

I was talking with someone about it yesterday. I think we play on the edge all the time. To win golf tournaments, not many guys are winning not playing very well. To beat all these players, you have to be there, and a few guys every week are on doing that, and the rest are making up the numbers.

Q. I think there might be something in the fact that the R&A, looking back at Henrik's 20-under par, have gone out and said they're not going to do that again to this golf course? Do you think there might be a little of that?

ADAM SCOTT: Probably. There are new tee boxes out there since '16, several on the front nine. The 5th may be the biggest one, you know, moving the direction of the hole, making that quite difficult.

Yeah, I think we're used to it. Most courses seem to be protecting themselves from getting torn up, yeah.