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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

August 5, 2011

Adam Scott

AKRON, OHIO

LAURA HILL: Adam, thanks for joining us. Kind of a tale of two days, went low yesterday and then even par today. Can you kind of compare the two and how things went for you out there today?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, obviously I had a lot of momentum yesterday and seemed to find my rhythm off the tee and into the greens and on the greens. But today was a little tougher. I started really solid, but couldn't make anything on the front nine, and then -- or on my first nine today.
And then I just hung a couple drives out to the right, so I was in the rough and scrambling a little bit coming in.
But it was fairly solid golf, other than that. It was fairly solid other than that; 70 around this golf course is never really that bad. So hopefully I can hit a few more fairways over the weekend.

Q. The putts just didn't seem to be dropping for you, they were short all day or just on the edge. Just a little off today compared to yesterday?
ADAM SCOTT: I don't know. The greens were definitely faster this morning. They were rolling a lot smoother, so you just had to be a bit more careful, I think, because the greens are fast here. So it was a bit more of a day where I felt I just -- I wasn't quite as close to the hole, and I just had to be a little careful and not charge them ten feet by. Yeah, it was probably just a little off, not quite on today. It was harder to get in a rhythm today for me for whatever reason.

Q. And the second shot into 17, your eighth hole, where you hit the flagstick and got a bad break, do you feel that was a potential momentum shift for you?
ADAM SCOTT: Maybe a little. It would have been nice to get the round going, and I think that one would have finished really close. A little -- but I did well in the end to just two-putt that and not drop a shot. You know, I had my chances after birdieing the par-5 there to go 1-under, but I just didn't drive it the best coming in, and therefore made a couple mistakes.

Q. It seems like a lot of guys when they go low, the next day they don't go low. Is there something about it that is difficult to back up, especially if it's a late-early, or is it better late-early, I don't know, but is it hard to back up that round?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it is, because you can look, the last time I shot 62 was probably a long time ago, so am I going to expect to do it two days in a row? I don't think so. But it's a hard golf course, and unless you hit a lot of great shots -- the first 15 holes yesterday was near perfection for golf, for me anyway, and I've done that once this year. So to do it two days in a row would be exceptional.
But it's a hard golf course, and if you're just a little off, you get quite severely penalized. There's no real secret that it's not easy to shoot a couple 62s.

Q. On the back nine, you seemed to lose your drive a little bit.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I'm just having a hard time drawing the ball at the moment. I'm hitting it left to right really well, but every time I aim down the right, I leave it out to the right. I'm not really sure what's going on there. I'll figure it out maybe this afternoon hopefully.

Q. Forgive that the question is not original and it's not very fresh, but what does Stevie bring to your bag?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, the obvious stuff is the years of experience and everything. But whenever you make a change in caddie or coach or anything, there's certainly a bit of enthusiasm and a bit of motivation. He's a very positive guy. He's very confident in the way he caddies, and I think that's good for me, keep myself confident out there and on the front foot being aggressive because that's the way I play my best golf. So I think we seem to be a pretty good match.

Q. What's to like about this course?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think it's a pretty good golf course. It plays a lot better when it's soft in the fairways and the greens. When they get them firm, you know, it's very hard to hold the fairways because they're so narrow they have slope on them, but it plays well at the moment while it's soft. But it's in impeccable condition, we all know that. It's quite interesting because a lot of the holes just run back and forth, up and down, so quite easy to read the wind and stuff like that.
You know, it's a challenge. I mean, you do have to -- it's just pretty much straight there in front of you, and you've got to point and shoot.

Q. Do you like it?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I like it when it plays soft. When it gets firm and fast, it gets a bit funny because your ball just runs off the fairway into quite long rough, and then you're in long rough with overhanging trees. It's not much fun.

Q. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of courses you would say that about, usually it's the firmer and faster the better.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, if it was firm and fast, if they took the rough away, it would play good. But that combination of firm and fast with the long rough is a bit unfair around here maybe.

Q. Yesterday you talked in here about how Steve almost sort of gave you some confidence seemingly, like a jolt. Just curious if in looking back that maybe you were missing that a little bit or sort of a light went on, just hearing it from somebody else helped?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think so. Look, I think I gave myself a jolt recently and have been really inspired and have really enjoyed playing this year, because everyone knows I had a tough couple years and was very frustrated on the golf course. Even last year I played so well, but I putted so poorly. It was so frustrating for me to play like that all year.
So you know, really enjoyed this year, and then to have that fresh face and him come on with his confidence and belief in my ability, absolutely, it's another little jolt that inspires you to work a little harder and work hard when I'm out on the golf course, too.

Q. You're under the tree on 18. Being here year after year, I've seen a lot of guys under that tree. Is that your first time?
ADAM SCOTT: Probably no. I'm pretty sure I've been under that tree on 18 before.

Q. Because it just seems to me that it's very easy to get under that tree. There aren't a lot of trees on TOUR where you're physically standing under there. What were you looking at?
ADAM SCOTT: I wasn't looking at much. I was fortunate I had a little gap to punch out of. But it is one of those trees where the ball just -- you just want to hit it over there. It was another one I hung out to the right today, so that's two days in a row I've been kind of flirting with that tree, and I need to straighten it out for the weekend because it could be important, that hole.

Q. I mean, you played through the Tiger, era of Tiger domination. What's changed? Even if he comes back, and he comes back something like his best, is it possible anymore to be that dominating, one guy just dominating so much?
ADAM SCOTT: I don't know that I can give you a hundred percent assurance that a guy can dominate like that again. I never write Tiger off. I mean, he has proved almost every critic wrong every time. If they say he can't do it, he does it. So I never do.
What we saw from 1999, 2000 onwards, I don't know, for seven or nine years even, it's hard to believe that it'll happen again. But he's the same guy. He can do it. It's really -- for guys who didn't see it, it's hard to explain how good he really was playing, especially in the early 2000s. He was in a class of his own. He hit shots that no one was able to hit and controlled the golf ball better than anyone else. It was remarkable golf. We'll just have to wait and see. There's no point -- I can hem and haw about it all I want, but I think I was lucky to be around to see that kind of golf.
But now, I don't know, a lot of things and technology has changed a lot, and I think that works against someone really being that much better, because it's certainly leveled the playing field a little bit. But it's an interesting time in golf, and a lot of guys right now feel like there's an opportunity to stand up and be that guy. It'll be interesting to see if anyone can do it.

Q. Do you think that the younger guys not having been through that, not having actually seen him, watched him play, do you think in a sense that that helps them at this time because they're trying to reach up and they don't have the scar tissue of some other guys like an Ernie who just kept getting beat by him?
ADAM SCOTT: Maybe. But for guys who -- even like myself who wasn't even close to that level back then, this is my opportunity now, and maybe it should be Ernie's, as well, because until someone is that much better, then it's wide open really. That's what I feel like. This is an opportunity for everyone.
Yeah, sure, there might be scar tissue for some guys who got beaten a lot by him, but you'd have to see if -- I don't think they should be worried about that right now unless they were going head-to-head with him. Then there might be an edge. But to go head-to-head with some new, fresh faces, they shouldn't be worried about that stuff, how Tiger played in 2000.

Q. It's early in the process with Stevie, but is the edge for you there on what he can provide to you intel-wise about him? Does he talk about where Tiger's game is? I know he's focused on you, but do you have conversations?
ADAM SCOTT: Not really. I'm not too interested in where Tiger's game is at honestly. I've got enough on my plate worrying about my own game. And look, I've always had a good strategy when I play with Tiger is to not watch him play, and it's always worked nicely for me. I've played well. I always think it's a challenge to play with him with a lot of distractions out there, and that's one less one you have to deal with is to not watch him play. It gets you really focused when you play with him, so I've enjoyed that. I don't think I'm going to get any inside scoop that's going to really make a difference to me.

Q. I was just curious if you've ever not defended a title before.
ADAM SCOTT: I have actually, twice, unfortunately, I didn't defend. My first tournament that I won, I didn't defend. My dad had an accident the day before I was meant to go to South Africa and he broke his back.

Q. Which tournament was that?
ADAM SCOTT: It was the Alfred Dunhill in South Africa, and I didn't defend the Qatar Masters one year in 2002 or '03. It was when the Gulf War started that week, and I thought I'd rather not go. (Laughter.)

Q. Did you ever come back and defend the LA tournament that you didn't officially win?
ADAM SCOTT: I wouldn't be defending that. No, I'd like to go back and play LA.

Q. Have you been back since you won?
ADAM SCOTT: I have, yes. I had a go at really winning it the next year, but it didn't quite pan out.

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