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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY MORGAN STANLEYJune 1, 2007Adam ScottDUBLIN, OHIO STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Adam Scott to the interview room here at the Memorial Tournament. Adam, fantastic second round 62, one shot off John Huston's course record 61. Obviously in the zone out there today, five straight birdies on 4 through 8. Talk about your round a little bit. ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, well, I got off to a good start, birdieing No. 2 and just kept hitting a lot of good shots. And then it seemed like I was hitting it around 10 feet for those five holes there on 4 through 8. The greens were so pure this morning that if you got it started on-line, it was going in. They were pretty quick today. I'd say a little quicker than yesterday afternoon. So you didn't really have to worry about even hitting the putt. It was just going to get there. STEWART MOORE: If you could possibly take us through your birdies as far as clubs hit into each hole. ADAM SCOTT: No. 2 was a 3-wood as a pitching wedge, I guess 12 feet maybe. No. 4 was a 6-iron and 15 feet. No. 5, I hit 3-wood and a pitching wedge and then a lob wedge, and that was only three feet. No. 6 was a driver and a sand wedge to 12 feet again. No. 7, I hit driver, 3-iron and got it up-and-down out of a bunker, had a tap-in. No. 8 was an 8-iron and maybe a 15-footer. No. 10 was a 3-wood, 8-iron, seven feet. No. 11 was a driver and a wedge out, wedge on, and maybe another 15-footer. 12 was an 8-iron to 15 feet. 15 was a driver, 5-wood and two putts from about five feet. 16 I bogeyed, I hit it in the bunker with a 7-iron and had a 20-footer for par. 17 was a 3-wood, pitching wedge and maybe 25 feet. Q. You had a birdie putt on 13. It looked like after you hit your tee shot on 14 you were looking back at that green. Was that missing that birdie putt on 13 with that maybe the first missed shot the whole round? Did you really think about that? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it might have been, actually. I mean, I hit great putts on 1 and 3, which caught a piece of the hole and didn't go in. Yeah, that was not a very good putt. You know, I didn't have a great line or speed going there. It was so fast from five feet. It would have been quite easy to hit it at least that far past. So I was just trying to drop it in the front edge, and it got off its line early. Q. Did you say it was basically on the 13th and 15th holes that the 59 was starting to creep into your head when people were yelling it at you and such because of where you stood? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, 13 I kind of put two and two together, if I make this four-footer, then I'll be 10-under and I've got five holes for three birdies. The way things were going it was realistic with a par 5 in there. You know, but I got over that then when I missed it, and then I was just getting back to -- I had quite a tough second shot into 14, so I was really concentrating on that. But then when I hit this 5-wood into 15, I mean, it was on a perfect line. I mean, I hit a great shot, and when I got up there and saw it so close, I did the math again (laughter), and I thought, okay, here we go. I hit a very similar putt. It was kind of the same, but a lot quicker. You know, I just didn't hit it with enough speed to ever hold its line. I mean, they were disappointing, sure. They weren't easy putts, but it would have been nice to have been a little more confident and kind of bury it in there. Q. Where does this rate in the pantheon of great Adam Scott rounds? ADAM SCOTT: This is a good one (smiling). This is a tough golf course when you're just playing okay. But when you're playing good, it's possible. I mean, the greens are receptive at the moment. They're not really firm. But one of my best rounds, for sure. I don't know what I can compare it to, but definitely one of my best rounds. Q. And is it possible to be at least disappointed with a 62 given those putts you missed? ADAM SCOTT: I'm not going to say I'm disappointed with a 62 (laughter). Q. Is there any explanation for why the Aussies are playing so well except that you guys are just good? ADAM SCOTT: There really is no explanation. I think we all push each other along a little bit. I think that may be one reason. But I think you said it; I think we've got a lot of good players at the moment from Australia. Q. I caught part of it. Did you say you talked with Butch on the phone last night and he gave you a pep talk about kind of snubbing out somebody? ADAM SCOTT: No, I didn't. Tony and I were pretty frustrated with ourselves after yesterday's round. I was saying that I've hit a lot of good shots since Houston in all these tournaments and haven't really had good results and getting nothing out of how good I'm playing. And it happened again yesterday; we were playing really well and bogeyed the last two holes and probably felt like we should have had a handful better. You know, we just kind of told each other what we thought about what's going on out there, a bit of a heart-to--heart, because we knew I was close to playing really well. Our idea at the end of that was to come out and be focused and neither of us make a mistake. Q. How often can a player at this level hope to be in a zone like this? Is it once a week, once a month, once a year? How rare is it to feel like everything is coming together like this in a round? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, well, it's not often, obviously. I didn't shoot 62 lately. You know, it happens a couple times a year, I think, where you can just free-wheel it. I mean, I really felt like I was. I stood on the 12th tee and just swung an 8-iron and it finishes ten feet. That's not that easy of a shot. But that's kind of how I do it when I'm going well. I just try not to think too much about things and just hit it because the rhythm is just there for some reason. Q. When you've had stretches before where you get frustrated because you're not getting what you think you should out of your game, does it usually end with a snowball round like this one and it all comes at once? ADAM SCOTT: Occasionally it does. I mean, you've got to keep doing all the right things. If you believe you're doing the right stuff, you've got to keep pushing and pushing, and eventually it will. I think it happened to me last year in a different kind of way when I didn't win a tournament, even though I played quite well all year. And then I kept pushing myself right to the end and then finally got a win at the TOUR Championship. But this was a feeling similar to that, but just about a round. Q. So the conclusion you and Tony came to that you weren't getting the most out of your rounds, was it really more mental on both your parts? ADAM SCOTT: Uh-huh, yeah. I think we were just making too many errors out there, silly mistakes, and I'm not having a go at Tony because I hit the shot, as well. But, you know, it would be like we'd hit a great shot but it just wouldn't get up and it would finish on the worst spot to leave it on that hole, and therefore I couldn't get it up-and-down and there was a bogey. Whereas last year I felt like I was not making many bogeys at all, and this year I'm making a couple more bogeys a round. It makes it harder to put good rounds together. Q. This business of a zone, please, do you feel something when you're in a zone, or are things just working right? Is there a sensation of some kind? ADAM SCOTT: No, things just happen, and you just can't -- you don't do anything wrong, really. And like I said, I think the only times that I did something wrong was on those couple putts where I thought about the outcome, and I think that's what you can't do. Basically I was just looking at my target and swinging the club. Q. Do you hold any course records anywhere that you know of? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think I've got a couple around the place. I think I have the record in Boston, and I equalled the record at Riviera, I believe, and the Belfry. I don't know, there are a couple. Q. When you're thinking about the results on a few of those putts, why did you do that? Why did you think about it? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, good question (smiling), I don't know. Q. I'm not dressing you down here, I was just curious. ADAM SCOTT: I don't know, maybe that's the error that I made. If I want to be critical of my round, then I've got to learn probably not to do that. Q. But were you thinking about 59, for example? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, sure. I mean, on 13 when I got up there and it was close, 10-under through 13, I mean, it's a good chance with a par 5 to shoot 59. Like I said, on 15 I got up over the hill and saw the ball was five feet. Going 11-under with three to go, there's a good chance. I shouldn't be so good at math (laughter). I wish I didn't take math (laughter). Q. Was that a 3-wood for the second? ADAM SCOTT: 5-wood. Q. Was that as pure a swing as you can put on it? ADAM SCOTT: It was a pure swing. It was right on the edge of -- it was three feet right. It was in the bunker, but it was perfect. Q. Is it fair to say, I guess, developmentally, I mean, you picked off THE PLAYERS Championship and the TOUR Championship last year, that the next rung up for you is probably the majors and hanging around and being in the mix on the weekend? We're only, what, 12 days away now? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I definitely feel that would be a nice progression, obviously. But, you know, I think that's something that I should focus on. I'd be silly not to. But obviously there is a lot of tournaments, and I want to try and win as many as I possibly can. I think I've just got a lot smarter in my preparation for majors and my outlook going into them, as well. I'm a little more relaxed. Maybe that's through confidence and believing in myself a little bit, that I can actually win one of them. Q. Did you actually hear anybody in the gallery or anywhere say "59" during that stretch? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, there were a couple guys yelling out "course record" and "59" and stuff walking to the tees. But I never pay attention to them anyway. Q. Was it like baseball? Do they talk to you more or intentionally talk about other stuff, or does it feel any different? ADAM SCOTT: I don't know, maybe they did talk to me a little less. They both had a few issues out there today. I don't think they were too worried about me at the time (laughter). Q. You've probably told the story before, but if you could just kind of recount exactly where you were last year at Winged Foot on Sunday when you did the U-turn and went back to the course? ADAM SCOTT: We had just loaded up all the cars to drive to the airport, so we were driving to the airport and stopped and got my car. Q. What did you hear, a cell phone or a text? How did you hear about this? ADAM SCOTT: That Geoff won? Q. Yeah. ADAM SCOTT: Well, to be honest, I watched him win, and we got in the car and went, and then I'm like, well, I think it would be nice -- I didn't know if his management and everything was there. I knew Julie obviously was there and pregnant, and I didn't know if anyone was there to look after her, so I just thought, I'll go back. It would be nice. Q. Quickly just describe your relationship with him. ADAM SCOTT: Well, we've known each other probably 10 or 12 years now, I guess. He was in Europe for a brief time when I was in Europe, and then since I've kind of played over here, we've kind of picked up our friendship from before. Q. Friendly rivalry do you think? ADAM SCOTT: I don't think so, not at all. Q. I read his interview last night in Digest, and here's a guy who's now won a World Golf Championship and a U.S. Open, which is what you're striving to do, and I think one of the questions to him was rank the Aussies, and he put you first. ADAM SCOTT: Geoff did? Hard to beat -- he's being modest maybe. You're only as good as your last round, so I'll rank myself first right now (laughter). Q. After this kind of clearing the air session, did you wake up this morning with nothing on your mind? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't really a big deal. I think Tony was frustrated and I was a little frustrated, so it was kind of good to put it out there, what we were thinking, because it's silly to continue feeling like you're playing good and getting nothing out of it. You know, I think we should remind ourselves of what we did and do that tomorrow. Q. I know we can check the scores on this TOUR, but can you just run through your best scores globally? ADAM SCOTT: I've shot 62 maybe six times, I think. That's my best scores. Q. Where are some of those places? ADAM SCOTT: I shot it in the U.S. Junior actually; I shot it in Boston; I shot it at the Honda. I shot 10-under at Greg Norman's tournament at The Lakes one time. That was 63 but it was 10-under. Booz Allen. Those are the ones I can think of. Q. 62 is definitely your lowest career score? ADAM SCOTT: Yes. Q. Given the fact that everyone is always talking about if you look at your swing it's identical to Tiger's Circa 2000, and given anybody that watches you play sees how incredible you strike the ball, how difficult has it been to stay patient with some of the majors not coming quicker maybe, with a major breakthrough? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think the last couple years I've had a better outlook on the majors. I think maybe I got swept up in trying to win them too fast and too young, and I think I finally realized that what Tiger does is not normal (laughter). Q. We realize that, too. ADAM SCOTT: There are a few exceptions to that. I know Ben Curtis won a major quite young, and Sergio has had his chances but he hasn't. I mean, it's not about being patient because I don't think any great athlete is that patient. But a lot of things have to go your way, and it's got to be the right week. I think now I understand what I need to do to prepare for them and the mindset I need to have while I'm out there playing. Before, if I was honest with myself, I probably didn't believe I could win them. Q. Have you heard from Sharapova yet? ADAM SCOTT: No. Q. You know what he's talking about yet? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, Andrew told me about that. Q. What did you think? ADAM SCOTT: What do I think? She must know I'm a pretty good tennis player. Q. I'm sure it was based solely on that. ADAM SCOTT: Mixed doubles partner, wasn't it? Q. I don't think she really had tennis in mind. ADAM SCOTT: (Smiling). Q. You should know that Vladimir Putin was also on the list. ADAM SCOTT: So I'm not sure about her taste in men. Q. I might have missed this. You mentioned a little while ago that you might have believed you couldn't win a major. Have you changed that thinking? ADAM SCOTT: Absolutely. I think when I was younger, I thought you had to do everything perfect to win a major, that there was some week where everything just magically came together for guys and they did everything absolutely perfect, and that's the only way you could win a major. But I've played in a lot of them now, and I've played with guys during the week who have won and realized that it's just really more about how you manage yourself, and you don't have to hit every shot perfect and you don't have to make every putt. It's just about how you manage yourself. You know, the last couple years, my performance in the majors has been a lot more consistent. Q. That sounds almost identical to what Geoff said about his Open experience and figuring out that you don't have to be perfect. Did you guys talk about that? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I learned a lot off Geoff last year. He says it a little more bluntly than that. He says they're the easiest tournaments to win (laughter). So, okay, he's won a U.S. Open, but I understand what he's saying because you can just manage yourself. There were guys out there who were thinking like I was, and they're shooting themselves in the foot before they even tee off. They've got no chance. They're just making up the numbers, so then the field gets narrowed down to the certain few guys who have it together. STEWART MOORE: Adam, great round today. Best of luck. End of FastScripts |
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