NORTHERN TRUST OPEN

February 15, 2012

Adam Scott

ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, nice to be back and start my year out here at Riviera where I have fond memories, unofficial winner in '05, but I played good the next year, too, and finished second.  So I've certainly played well here, and it's probably my favorite venue on the PGA TOUR.  Very impressed with how the course is looking at the moment.  It's in fantastic shape, and hopefully it'll stay that way for the rest of the week.

Q.  Can you talk about your decision to start the year a little bit later and what went into that?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, we always seem to play so much golf that I felt by the FedExCup last year I was running a little low, by the time that started, the playoff events.  And then I played right into the back end of the year in December in Asia and Australia.  So I figured starting a little later certainly wouldn't hurt me, and hopefully I'd still be fresh enough to have a better run at the Playoffs and then into the back end of the year when I get home to Australia.

Q.  This is proving to be a pretty good place for Aussies to play.  Why do you think that is?  Is it close to what you guys are used to, or what's the secret?
ADAM SCOTT:  A little bit.  I think it is.  I mean, the golf course is in some ways similar to some courses back at home.  Maybe not the grass but the design of the golf course and the way the greens are.  I think we all feel pretty comfortable on this style of golf course.  I think it's hard not to like this style of golf course.  But certainly I would tend to say a ball striker's golf course, and when you see a guy like Robert Allenby winning, he's a great ball striker.  Maybe that's why.  Other than that, I mean, most‑‑ I think most people feel pretty good playing out at this golf course.

Q.  What did you tweak over the off‑season to improve yourself for this year?
ADAM SCOTT:  Last month or so, maybe a bit more, I've been working on a few things in my golf swing that‑‑ just toward the end of the season, a few little habits crept in, so I made sure I took them out and got the club traveling pretty square down the line through the ball again.
But I didn't do much.  I just kind of kept working on all the things I was working on last year, especially with my chipping and my putting, and just made sure I was really ready to come back out and play.  I think I've prepared pretty well, so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't play well this week.

Q.  Does that mean you're confident with all the things that you've done previously are good enough to get you to a major championship level?
ADAM SCOTT:  I think so, yeah.  It's all part of a process.  I've continued down the path I was going last year.  I think overall last year was probably the best I've played for a year.  You know, there could have been bits here and there that were better, but that's how it is.  It's a good platform to come into this year, so I kept working on those things, and I've seen results in practice, and now it's time to see the results in a tournament.

Q.  Back to your break, is that one of the longest you've had between an off‑season at all, ever?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, I think it probably is the longest break for me, three months in between events, I think.  You know, it's a long time, but it doesn't feel that long ago that I was playing in Australia to be perfectly honest.  It goes by pretty quick when you're having fun.
But I think I needed it.  I've played a lot of golf around the world for the last 12 years, and to be able to spend three months at home for a change was really, really nice.  I enjoyed it a lot, saw family and friends.  Now I'm refreshed and ready to go for this year.

Q.  Watched a lot of tennis?
ADAM SCOTT:  Saw a lot of tennis, too.

Q.  The USGA and R&A say they're taking a fresh look at long putters, belly putters, anchoring, all that stuff.  Do you have any thoughts on what you've heard about that and anything you'd like to say to them about that?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, I didn't know they were taking another fresh look at it.  I'm sure they're going to keep looking at all different areas of the game, as well.  But it is what it is.  There are people for and against it.  Obviously they're not completely against it or we wouldn't be putting with them at all.  You know, I don't have anything to say.  I think it works for me.  It might not work for others unless they give it a try.
But just like everything in golf, it changes.  Driver heads weren't 460 cc's when the game started, just like people didn't putt with a belly putter when the game started.  So things change, and I guess it's up to the R&A and the USGA to keep the game in the best shape possible with what they think.  Whatever they think goes at the end of the day, so we'll see.  It's not going to ruin me if they ban a long putter one day because I putted good some weeks with the short putter.  I won a lot of tournaments.  I'll just have to work a bit harder with it.

Q.  Can you talk about the kind of process of building chemistry with a caddie like you and Stevie in terms of how that goes and where you're at with that process with Stevie?
ADAM SCOTT:  Of compatibility?

Q.  Yeah, just kind of building that process of chemistry where he knows what you're doing and want to do and vice versa?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah.  No, we got along well right from the start as far as chemistry goes.  He basically laid it on the table with me when we decided we'd start working together, so then I did the same with him, and we got on the same page right from the get‑go, and that's what we've been going at ever since.  We have a great communication together, I think, and a lot of things in common just from being down in the southern hemisphere and of a similar mentality from that point of view, I guess.

Q.  The rest and the limited schedule and whatnot that you've got, is that again to peak for the Masters and then other majors like you did last year?  Obviously you did pretty well in the majors which you hadn't necessarily done in the past.  Is it all part of that?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, that's part of it, but I think I can peak for most tournaments.  Playing a limited schedule, it certainly allows you proper time to prepare for every week that you play, which is the way I think that I play my best.  I've prepared properly for this week.  I've put a lot of work in to get myself ready to play here, and hopefully that'll carry through to the Match Play and then hopefully I give myself a week to prepare properly for Doral and then the Masters and whatever I play after that.  I'm trying to show up in the best shape possible every week, and I feel I can do that by preparing a little more at home on the range than playing 35 weeks a year.

Q.  Can you go back to the unofficial win here and sort of the memories you have of that process and waiting out the rain and all that, what you remember most from that?
ADAM SCOTT:  I remember spending so many hours in the locker room that week.  It was such a frustrating week for all, I think, to only play 36 holes over four days and five days because then they canceled it on Monday, as well.  It was a first for most people, I think.  It doesn't happen too often.  But there was a lot of just waiting around and really unfortunately we never got a break.  But I made the most of those 36 holes at least.

Q.  I read yesterday, too, that you had some tonsil issues in the off‑season, that you got rid of those.  How much of an issue had that been?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, I'd been fighting it for three years and had maybe four or five bouts a year with tonsillitis where pretty much the week‑‑ you're sick for a whole week, and that's a real setback.  Then I got it in Boston during the Deutsche Bank tournament last year, and I played that week somehow, but I felt terrible, and I thought that was enough.  If it happens during an event next year, it's just another waste of an event and month.  I decided to take them out.
It's a bit of a recovery, but problem solved.
LAURA HILL:  Thanks for your time.  Good luck this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports