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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 21, 2014Adam ScottORLANDO, FLORIDA DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome back Adam Scott after another successful‑‑ not quite as successful as yesterday, but 4‑under, 68 today, Round 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Quite the comfortable lead heading into the weekend. Just some comments on Round 2 today. ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think it was a pretty good way to back up a low round. It's not easy to do that, especially around a tough course. And I think going back to the first hole was key in keeping some momentum out of yesterday, making kind of a scrappy par and a good putt on the first to feel like I'm heading in the right direction to start the day. And then I played really solid. I would say I struck the ball much better than yesterday, but just didn't quite make the putts. But it's tough to do that all the time around a track like this. Q. You talked about how hard it is to back up a low score like that. On the front nine when you had done so well yesterday, is it hard not to compare, well, I got an eagle on this hole yesterday, I got a birdie on this hole yesterday, how do you get around that? ADAM SCOTT: I think you have those days like yesterday where it seems every yardage is perfect. And you've got the read on every putt and things just happen. And as soon as you don't have that perfect yardage, maybe on the first few holes, the pin's a little tucked and it's not shaping up for you, it all becomes a lot harder. Yesterday was just one of those days where everything fell into place for me. And today I just stayed patient on those holes where I didn't do as well as yesterday and felt like if you keep playing this well and hitting good shots you're going to create a few opportunities. It wasn't that I was putting poorly the holes I didn't make putts, I just had to wait for a couple to drop. Q. Do you take into account tomorrow the seven shot lead when you start, and basically how do you keep getting ahead of yourself? ADAM SCOTT: I think I've got to just try and start again tomorrow. With this weather the course is going to play tricky again. I saw some of the pins out there that are tucked away and the greens definitely firmed up a little this afternoon. If it stays like this it will be firmer again. So this course will really start to bare its teeth. I've got to take in the attitude of starting over again and trying to play a really hard 36 holes. And hopefully if I can keep striking the ball like I am I'll give myself enough chances for birdie and hopefully more birdies than bogeys. Q. You were even after 8 today. You made a very good read on No. 9. Most of them missed that to the left. Did that help to jump start your back side? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think it felt good, actually, to get 1‑under going into the back nine. For whatever reason you're turning nine, not that it means anything, it's just another hole, and you're halfway there and you're under par and it's a good feeling. I felt that it would be an important putt to make, and to put a good back nine together, to be under par for both nines today I'd be in good shape. It felt nice to make a put because I hit a few that were I bit too speedy and obviously not the right line, but that one, I dialed it back in, because the putter does feels good, and you want to keep that confidence going with the putter while you've got it. Q. A couple of different questions. What is the challenge, I guess, is the only way to put it, of playing with a 7‑shot lead going into the weekend here? ADAM SCOTT: Well, I don't think there's much of a challenge tomorrow. I think we're only halfway, and there's still ‑‑ seven shots over two days is not enough. I don't think you can ever be enough lead, to be honest. So like I said, the challenge might be just to start again and try and play a great 36 holes, start fresh, and try to be the leader after the next 36. Q. And then secondly, on nine, what was the yardage in on there and you already talked about it a little bit, but was that really the shot that sort of turned things around? ADAM SCOTT: I don't know if it was‑‑ it was a good birdie. It was nice to‑‑ when you're floating around even par the difference between a birdie and a bogey is huge, because it never feels good to be over par, even if you're playing at a U.S. Open, you feel like you're playing poorly, because there's this thing with par. It wasn't that tough a shot. It was a good shot. It was sitting nicely in the rough, to be fair. But definitely making a birdie there was good for the momentum heading into the back nine. And then I played some really nice golf, I thought, on the back nine, hit a lot of nice shots. Q. Two questions, just wondering, how is your health? Are you feeling much better, you told us you were a bit off yesterday? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better than when I woke up yesterday morning. Just a little flat and got a sore throat now. So hopefully the worst is behind. But as far as energy goes I'm a hundred percent better. Q. You said you'd like to be the leader after the next 36 holes, how pleasing, then, would it be to go to Augusta with a victory? ADAM SCOTT: It would be exactly what I need, I think. The confidence you can take out of a win and playing some good shots when it counts is huge. And the feeling of being in contention close to a Major can really count for a lot when or if you do get in contention at the Major. The feelings are fresh and you've been able to do it. I would take a lot out of a win this week and heading up there. Q. When you're swinging this well, what is going through your mind? What's the thought process? Or is there even very little that you're thinking about because you are just very comfortable with your golf swing at that point? ADAM SCOTT: My swing thought or what am I thinking about just generally? Q. Are even having to think about very much at all because it's just so comfortable? ADAM SCOTT: No, it might look more comfortable than it is. I've still got a couple of key thoughts. I'm focused very hard on my alignment at the moment. I think that's what has got me a little wayward in the previous couple of weeks here in Florida. So I'm focusing very hard on setting up where I'm wanting to hit the ball. And from there the swing kind of falls into place. Generally for me if I'm in good posture and alignment, I swing the club quite nicely without too much thought. It's just a big focus on that for me. Q. You follow your 62 yesterday with a 68 today. I think the last four times you've done that in a round that wasn't the final round you haven't shot over par, but a couple of 67s and you've won a few of those golf tournaments, too. Is there anything that you can recall from those wins, either at the 2011 Bridgestone, 2004 Booz Allen, anything for the next two days? ADAM SCOTT: I think when you've got momentum you've got to go with it. And whether it's in your round when you're getting hot and you're 6‑under, you've got to think that's going to be a day when you can push it to 10. And then when you come out the next day you've got to try to get your foot on the gas, as well. You never know when the momentum is going to run out. And again, tomorrow, I think that's going to be my strategy, as well, is go out and try and keep swinging like this and pick this course apart. It feels very much like I was playing toward the end of last year in Australian, where I kind of picked golf courses apart by just hitting fairways and hitting greens, and just waiting for that right number to hit one close. I'd like to kind of keep that going for the next couple of days and I feel like I'll be in good shape. Q. Your scrappy par at 1. How tough was that second shot? How tough was the chip under the tree and how tough was the putt? ADAM SCOTT: Probably the putt was the toughest of the three. The second shot was a bit of a lottery because it was leaning up against the stick. I didn't really know how it was going to come out of there. And it came out fine. The chip had its challenges but I had a ton of green to work with, my touch wasn't too bad, I had to get it up 15 or 12 feet. It was good. But the putt had a lot of break left‑to‑right. And to jam that one in there right out of the gate was good for the confidence starting the day after two really poor shots and being out of position. That's not kind of the routine you want to get in right out of the gate. DOUG MILNE: If you could run through your birdies and bogeys and we'll let you go. ADAM SCOTT: Birdied the 6th. It was a driver and a 5‑iron and two putts from 35 feet. The 7th I buried a 7‑iron in the bunker and two‑putted from 15 feet. 11 I hit a 3‑wood and a 7‑iron to four feet. 12 I hit a driver, 3‑iron and chipped and a putt from five feet. 15 I hit a 3‑wood, a 9‑iron and that was probably a 30‑footer. 16 was a driver, 7‑iron and two putts from also 30 feet. And 18 was a driver, 9‑iron and three putts from 40 feet, maybe. DOUG MILNE: Adam, congratulations, we appreciate your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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