BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 22, 2024

Adam Scott

Castle Pines Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess your round?

ADAM SCOTT: I think I played well today. You know, I think playing at this altitude and working quite hard on every shot with the numbers just to not make mistakes kept me sharp out there, and fell in a good rhythm quickly. Didn't make any putts on the front but then got a few to go off some good shots on the back, and got the momentum going in the right direction.

I was a bit surprised it played more difficult than I thought it would, and I can see now if you're off out there, you're going to really struggle because the rough is brutal. It's going to be important to hit a lot of fairways the rest of the week.

Q. Is it good coming back here to compete again?

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, look, I don't think I played particularly well 24 years ago here, but it was kind of the start of my career and my first-ever PGA TOUR start. To think about however many events it is that I've played now and been successful out here for a long time, it was inspiring at the time, and it's fun to come back to where it all began.

Q. What was the hardest thing for you with the altitude today, whether it was physical or more mental with the numbers?

ADAM SCOTT: I think I did a good job really trusting the numbers that we worked out over the last couple days in practice. Maybe I only got one wrong into 17. But it's going to happen. You're going to make a mistake or two or just hit a good one and it just doesn't quite go the number you were hoping.

But overall if you keep making good swings, I think we've got it figured out well enough, and if I can keep trusting it, give myself enough chances to be around at the end of Sunday.

Q. You mentioned your first PGA TOUR event was at The International. Any memories that stand out to you? Anything that comes back to you all these years later?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I remember some of the holes. It's fairly unusual TOUR type golf course with this kind of elevation change the first hole. You just tee off straight down the mountain. The 11th, as well, is a standout hole here, and that hasn't changed much since they redid the golf course.

But I remember being around all the players that I'd looked up to my entire childhood was really the memories of being here, and feeling really not prepared for it, to be perfectly honest. A bit overwhelming, and I think my scores probably reflected that.

But it gave me inspiration to get better and work on my game and make sure I'm good enough to be out here. I was grateful for the opportunity.

Q. Jack Nicklaus designed the original course and then he was part of the renovations over the last eight years. How do you think this course plays? What is it like in your mind, this course, because he doesn't want to design courses that defeat golfers but challenge them.

ADAM SCOTT: I think there are so many similarities to Muirfield Village which has Jack Nicklaus's fingerprints all over it, and so does this place. With the elevation, they have to balance the distance well with the proportions of the course. But I think they've done a very, very nice job with growing some rough. There's plenty of room to hit a fairway, but if you miss, you're really penalized, to the right amount. I think it played very well today. Hopefully there's no rain because I think if it stays firm, it's really going to make us think a lot over the weekend. It's playing very well.

Happy for the club, all the work they've put in on the course, got a PGA TOUR event back here and one that's a very important one in our season.

Q. You mentioned it playing a little harder than you thought it would. How so exactly?

ADAM SCOTT: I guess when the gun goes off, it's not like Tuesday and every missed fairway leads to a quick bogey, it seems. On Tuesday it was a little easier hitting fairways. As soon as I missed one today, I was starting to scramble. It can be quite tricky. The rough is so thick, sometimes you can advance it, sometimes you advance it not to the spot that you want, and chipping out of this thick rough is a bit of a lottery, as well. You definitely want to be in fairways-and-greens mode to give yourself enough opportunities to make birdie.

Q. Do you know where you stand in the FedExCup and what you need to do?

ADAM SCOTT: I'm 41, aren't I? 41.

Q. Do you know what you need to finish?

ADAM SCOTT: Good. I mean, I don't know. It moves around so much. I don't. Top 5 is kind of the goal, obviously. I think a top 5 would do it. Anything else, you never know.

I feel like I've played on a bubble all year, and unless I'm running away by six shots on Sunday, I'm probably going to be on a bubble all week this week, as well, if I'm playing good.

Q. What was the highlight of today's round?

ADAM SCOTT: I think my iron play really showed up, felt really good. I had it on a good line. I did hook one on 16, but it felt really solid, like the ball was going where I was looking, which felt good, because even last week I was struggling, approach to the green, stats didn't look particularly good, and I wasn't very impressed with myself, so that was nice.

Q. For bubble players like yourself, is there a little freedom in that, being like, I can go out there and just --

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think I can play with some freedom this week. Of course I want to make it to Atlanta, but making the top 50 is like kind of keeping your card in a top player group out here these days. That's going to set me up for a great year next year. So I'm excited about that. I do feel like the pressure is a little bit off this week.

I think the highlight was hitting it 430 down the 10th, by the way. Forget the iron play.