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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 20, 2014Adam ScottORLANDO, FLORIDA DOUG MILNE: Adam Scott, course low tying 62, career low tying 62. Congratulations on a great first round here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Haven't played here since 2009 but obviously your memory serves you well. A few comments on today's great start. ADAM SCOTT: Obviously I'm really thrilled with the start today. It's maybe a little surprising. I don't know where it came from, but the putter certainly got hot today. And I remembered the golf course to certainly favor the way I play, I just had a few frustrating years here and left it off the schedule. And coming back fresh was obviously a good thing. But I like the changes they've made since the time I have not been here. And today was just one of those days where the hole was a bit like a bucket. Q. In a round like that today is there ever a point where you feel I've got it, I've dialed it in, I am absolutely on my game, just as sure as I can be? ADAM SCOTT: Sometimes there is. I made a lot of putts today and a lot of putts from considerable length, I think. I hit a lot of nice shots, too, but it wasn't like I was hitting it for four feet. I had a round like this in Australia at the end of the last year, in the first six holes I didn't hit it outside five feet. There's lots of different ways to get the ball in the hole. But it's good for the confidence. It's what I wanted. I sat in here yesterday and said I'd like to make some birdies and build the confidence, and today is a good start to that. Q. Were you sick? ADAM SCOTT: It's hard to say that I'm sick. But I've struggled the last couple of days with a bit of flu‑like fever and stuff, yeah. Q. How do you feel today? ADAM SCOTT: Pretty ordinary.  I feel actually better now than when I woke up. But just a bit under the weather. I can't complain. Q. Right now you've been playing really good golf for a couple of years. Is your game at its peak in terms of your career at this point? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it's certainly right there consistently, yeah, for sure it is. I've become a much more consistent golfer. You have days where you're feeling really good, and days where it still feels like a struggle and you've got to search for it. But I feel overall the work I'm putting in keeps me up there on a more regular basis. And I do feel, like I've said last year a lot, and again, the next five years should be the best five years of my career. And I'm going to make sure that happens. Q. Yesterday you were in here and you spoke about your first time playing here as I believe it was a 20 year old and Arnold Palmer knew who you were and spoke to you then. Have you seen him this week and what has he said to you this week, the fact that you're back the first time in a few years? ADAM SCOTT: I have not seen him this week. So he said nothing to me, actually. Hopefully I get to bump into him, it would be nice. But I caught up with him a few weeks ago down in West Palm Beach and so it's always fun to be around the guy, especially at the golf course, as well. To see the passion he has for the game of golf is a good reminder how good it is to us all and hopefully get a chance to see him this week. Q. There's an old saying: Beware the ailing or sick golfer. This is just the latest chapter. What do you think is behind that? Does it slow a player down? Take a run with it, if you wouldn't mind? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a really true adage: Beware of the sick golfer. It takes your mind off ‑‑ the expectations lower, slows you down and almost takes your mind off what's going on, because you're not even feeling human sometimes. So I went out there today just trying to get the ball around and it was really one shot at a time, all those cliches. But that kind of happens when you're feeling ordinary, you're just trying to make it to the next shot and do the best you can. And I wasn't feeling that bad but it was a slow start to the day. But I've played a lot feeling like this and sometimes it works in your favor, just by lowering the expectation a little bit and having no feeling, not even a nervous feeling. You're just more interested in feeling better than playing golf. Q. You've spoken so many times since you won the Masters and really embraced the win, the green jacket stories going back home. Did you make a conscious decision to do that? What I mean is embracing it and being so open to talk about it or did it sort of evolve that way and do you know why? ADAM SCOTT: I think it's not hard to embrace that. It's been something I've wanted to a long time. So it may or may not be the one year I get to run around with the green jacket. So it's been a lot of fun. I may as well have fun with it while I've got it. But it's been mostly what anyone talks to me about in the last 12 months since the Masters. That's what everyone is interested in. So it's not the hardest subject for me to talk about. I could spend plenty of time talking about it. I think you've got to embrace it. Like I said, I didn't want to just dwell on it and leave my game at Augusta last year, I wanted to use it to propel me forward. But certainly going back and reliving it and talking about it has been a lot of fun for me. Q. At any time was it ever tiresome? When you went home or at any point? ADAM SCOTT: No, not at all. I mean because people were just as excited to tell me where they were when I won and their story as I was talking about the Masters. So I got cut off a lot of the times (laughter.) People were telling me what golf club they were at when I won and stuff like that. So, no, it's never been tiring for me to talk about. Q. Did you ever get tired of listening to their stories? ADAM SCOTT: No, there have been some good ones. Just the excitement. I mean it's fun to see how that made everyone happy. There were no boring stories. It was good. Q. Where would you rank it among the great rounds of your career. Would it make the top five, for example? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, probably. It's going to be right there. I mean when I think about that, I shot 62 at Muirfield Village one year and that was the low score by five or six that day and I thought it was a really hard set up and that might have been the best round of golf I ever played. And the only other one that comes straight to mind is a 61 in Qatar in the final round to win. But this is going to be right there in the mix. It's a tough golf course. There are good scores out there, but to keep it going around here is tough because the penalties are severe. It's going to be right up there. I haven't spent any time ranking them yet, though. Q. Is there any other course where you hold the record with Greg? ADAM SCOTT: With Greg? I don't know. I don't know. Sorry. Q. In what situation or situations are you most appreciative of having Stevie on your bag? ADAM SCOTT: Well, there are many. You've got to rely on the one man who is out there with you all the time. But I can just think of this week. It was a slight schedule change for me to play here instead of last week in Tampa that I've played the last few years. And like I said, I felt like this golf course sets up well for me to take advantage of it if I'm playing well. And I've got Steve on the bag who's seen an awful lot of good golf played around here. And I think that's to my advantage, for sure. Relying on him here this week I thought was a smart thing for me to do. If I embrace coming back here and playing a golf course that I had some frustration with I knew he could point me in the right direction, too. Q. Any examples today of course knowledge? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, we talked a little strategy yesterday. I definitely asked him what he feels like the secret to the success is around here. And we didn't have a detailed discussion about it, but he believes the par‑3s are crucial around this golf course because they're long and demanding. And if you play them well you're going to then be able to have a lot of other good chances. Q. She just asked my question, so I'll follow‑up with a different kind of one. How often do you actually wear the green jacket and what's the strangest place you've ever worn it? ADAM SCOTT: I wear it quite frequently. It's here with me this week. And it's gone almost every week but two, I think, with me, since I won. So it's never been far away. I don't think there have been any real strange places. I've worn it around to friends' houses and stuff like that. But someone told me Phil went to a drive‑through with it on. I didn't really know if I should be pushing the boundaries of where I could wear the green jacket. He's got a few of them. I've got one, I don't want to get anyone upset back there at the golf club just yet. Maybe if I can get another couple I can do something else. Q. You said the expectations are lowered a little bit when you're under the weather. Where are the expectations now that you've had a 62 in the opening round as you go forward? ADAM SCOTT: I'm pleased with that. Hopefully with a solid round tomorrow I keep myself right in this golf tournament. I'm going to focus this afternoon on drinking a lot of water and resting up and trying to feel a bit more sprightly tomorrow. But like at any event you want to start and put yourself right in it from the get‑go and I've done that here. I hope a couple of solid rounds has me in the mix by Sunday. Q. What were the two weeks you didn't have the green jacket? ADAM SCOTT: It might have been Hawaii. I might not have taken it to Hawaii, I think. They were the two. I'm thinking of two weeks where I played. But I know it's two. I don't think I took it there. Q. The decision to play here, you mentioned the course, was that as much about confidence in your own ability and how things have changed maybe since last time you played here as much as anything? ADAM SCOTT: Somewhat, yeah. Look, I think back and they played around with the setup of the course a lot here for a fair few years and I played poorly and that obviously didn't have me leaving here having really positive thoughts. And it's very hard to go to a venue when‑‑ not being positive right from the get‑go. And I think as I watched the last few years and seen some more changes they've made here and listened to the guys talk about it it's gotten to a really good place again. And I think coming back here I feel like this course sets up well for me to take advantage with the par‑5s, and a few other holes demand the strengths of my game, driving and stuff like that. So I came here with a good attitude this year. And like I said, I could lean on Steve if I was a bit unsure on lines, even off tees, because it's changed a little bit. And try and make some birdies and build the confidence up and have a crack at winning a great event. Q. Following you in the gallery and asking some of the people what they like about you, you had a pretty good crowd out there today. And these were mostly women, of course, they said you're a great golfer, you're a world traveler, you're rich and you're lovely. You've heard this before for a long time, but is it as good being Adam Scott as it appears to be (laughter)? ADAM SCOTT: I can't complain, I must say. I'm playing golf for a living, that's a good start, isn't it? It's pretty incredible to just be able to do that. I had a good crowd out there today. It was really nice. It was a good group, three good players, and we had a good crowd. There was a good atmosphere, especially the back nine because I had it going a bit. And hopefully they're enjoying some good golf. But, yeah, I'm having a good run and I'm trying to enjoy the opportunities that I have. I have no complaints. Q. Horrible segue from that. I was curious about the bunker shot on 6 (laughter.) ADAM SCOTT: Maybe ask some of the women in the crowd what they thought about the shot on 6 (laughter.) Yeah, it was actually a good shot, that one. A little bit of upslope made it a little tricky, it kind of stayed in the face, even though it wasn't buried or anything. To get it up there, I don't know, seven or eight feet, was quite a good shot I thought from there. And it was important to get a little momentum, because I was a bit too safe on the shot in. It was kind of where I aimed it and it wasn't a great spot to miss it. Q. What club on 4? ADAM SCOTT: Into the green? 3‑wood. Q. And lastly, on 15, you putted that one? ADAM SCOTT: I did. Q. Was that the only option or the smart option or what? ADAM SCOTT: I think it was the smart option. Q. Or you wouldn't have done it, I get it. ADAM SCOTT: What's that? Q. Smart or you wouldn't have done it, right? ADAM SCOTT: Of course. I made plenty of dumb decisions. It was just too cute, you know, to chip. You had to strike it perfect and land it perfect and you still may have gone four or five feet past with the perfect chip. I felt like if I could dodge the sprinkler heads a putt could run down there and at least have a chance. DOUG MILNE: Real quick, you talked about 4 and 15. If you would run through your birdies and eagles real quick. ADAM SCOTT: The 3rd hole was a driver and a wedge, 12 foot putt, 10 foot putt. 4th hole was driver, 3‑wood and 25 feet, maybe. The 6th hole was a driver, 5‑iron, bunker shot and 7 feet. The 7th hole was a 6‑iron and 15‑footer from the fringe. The 10th was a 3‑wood, 9‑iron and a 20‑footer. The 12th was a driver and a 3‑iron in the front bunker and a four foot putt. The 14th was a 6‑iron and a 30‑footer, maybe. The 15th was the putt from off the green. The 16th was a driver and a 7‑iron and probably a 40‑footer. And I bogeyed the 18th. I hit it left of the bunker in two and chipped on and two‑putted from 20 feet. DOUG MILNE: Adam, congratulations on a great start. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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