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CROWNE PLAZA INVITATIONAL AT COLONIALMay 21, 2014Adam ScottFORT WORTH, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Adam Scott into the interview room here at the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Adam, let's get to matters. Congratulations on the new No. 1 ranking, an official World Golf Ranking. I know it's quite achievement for you and something that really means a lot to you. Just some comments. ADAM SCOTT: Thanks, John. Yeah, it's quite incredible really to sit here as the No. 1 golfer in the world. I feel like I probably downplayed the rankings for the last few months. Maybe I was trying to take some pressure off myself and just think about playing golf rather than other things that happen from it. I think Monday morning when it was official maybe I had a better sense of the achievement in becoming No. 1. It certainly means a lot to me and my family and the team of guys around me who spend a lot of time with me. I'm certainly appreciative of their support and everyone else's. It's an amazing accomplishment for me. I'd just like to say that and I'm going to have to work pretty hard to stay on top, but part of coming here this week was to play as the No. 1 golfer in the world and enjoy it for at least a week, hopefully, and from there we'll see what happens. THE MODERATOR: Comment on this golf course. You're making your third start here at Colonial. ADAM SCOTT: Well, this is recognized by us as one of the best courses on TOUR, so there are a lot of good things to say about this. I'm going to enjoy the challenge this week. I think it's going to give me a good indication of where certain areas of my game are at as we head into a pretty important part of the year coming into the summer. A lot of good golf will be played, and if I'm sharp with my wedges a hundred yards and in this week, which I've worked hard on this year, then I feel like I'm going to have a good week. Q. Adam, you said, obviously, playing here is part of being number one and having that experience. Talk about comparing yourself playing as a number one player? You haven't had a chance quite yet to do that. ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it's not something you really spend a lot of time thinking about. It's only been realistic for the last week sitting at home. It's been an interesting week. Weather wasn't very good at home the last week, so a lot of practice was extremely windy and we had a storm, so I probably didn't practice as hard as I normally do, but it was also quite nice to get a bit of a rest. It's a blessing in disguise. I was getting a little frustrated as a player because my swing and everything felt in good shape and I didn't get four rounds out of it. I got two rounds out of it. Sometimes when you get out of your own way, it's a good thing, and I think I did that last week. I got to play a little over the last few days. Things just felt a little easier than sometimes it's the grind. I think I took it a bit easy on myself last week. Q. Another good course for you to prepare for the Open and kind of work on some shots to improve on? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, this is a good course, but it's not just good for preparation, it's a great track and a great list of winners here. But adding this to the schedule was important I felt for me. Coming off of where I was, I spent a lot of time on the range working on things, and everything felt in a good place. But I just didn't take that playing rhythm out on the course every day at THE PLAYERS. Sometimes you can get stuck on the range and try to take that to the course and try to make perfect swings all the time. I think getting into playing rhythm is going to be good for me the next couple of weeks, and then a week off heading into the U.S. Open. So, you know, the goal here is obviously to get in contention, but I have to try to find that nice rhythm on the course. Q. Adam, obviously, you knew that the ranking was coming on Monday. Did you do anything to commemorate it with friends or your wife or anything? How did you acknowledge the day you became No. 1? ADAM SCOTT: I was with close friends at home. Invited me over for dinner and had a couple of friends come over to surprise me and gave me a very nice gift. They popped a bottle of champagne and the cork and wrapping have been sent off to be kind of carved in sterling silver and engraved, which is a very nice touch and was really nice of them to do that. It was things like that along with receiving messages of congratulations and messages from my family and friends that made me get out of my own way and realize that it really is an incredible achievement. You've just got to enjoy the moment, I think, a lot of the time and certainly playing here this week is for me. It's something that you throw around when you're a kid and 12 years old that you'll be the best player in the world, and it's really quite incredible to have it happen. Q. Was there a time, obviously Tiger put a stranglehold on No. 1, that guys thought that's just the way it is, and number two is really the No. 1 for everybody else? ADAM SCOTT: It definitely got that way after a couple of years and being double the points in front of everyone else like he was for a while. Honestly, from when I turned professional, it seemed quite unrealistic to think about the No. 1 spot for a while. I don't know. It's hard to look 10 or 12 years in the future from when you turn pro. You have no idea. But it certainly felt that way that it was somewhat unattainable throughout the early 2000s, that's for sure. A couple guys got there, Vijay, I think interrupted his reign on No. 1, but it was just remarkable golf for such a long period of time. For a while it was really off the radar for me. Only the last couple years I felt my game was kind of elevating to a point where it was an achievable goal again. But, I mean, it's quite a journey it really is from when you're a kid dreaming of it. Q. Now that the No. 1 spot is attainable for other people. But out here on the PGA TOUR, last week Brandon became the eighth first‑time winner already this year. What's it say about the state of the game now with so many different people having such an impact on what's going on? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I've talked a little bit about it this year and the depth of talent out here and how difficult it is and how good everyone is. How over the last few years I've seen the work ethic generally go up a lot. Guys working a lot harder, guys a lot hungrier, seeing how far they can push themselves out here. It's not just based on a bit of talent. It's hard work ethic that goes into it, and I've seen a lot of guys improve out of sight. The depth of talent is incredible, and it's probably got to do with some kind of carry‑over effect Tiger has had on the game. Kind of 15 years from when he first came out, and now we're seeing guys in their early or mid‑20s who have put in a lot of work since they were young and aspiring to beat Tiger kind of paying off. I think that's why we're seeing a lot more first‑time winners. It's a lot more competitive, and it's getting harder and harder to be out there. Q. Does it diminish the accomplishment anyway that you didn't achieve the No. 1 ranking on the golf course when you had the chances? ADAM SCOTT: I'm going to say not really. Sure, it would have been nice, but all the playing I did added up to this anyway. It's just the way the system works, and sure, it would have been awesome to win a tournament and jump to No. 1 like some guys have, but it wasn't the way. But hopefully I can get on and try to win a tournament this week or next week and start trying to keep myself up on top of the list. Q. The other change and the other thing congratulated for is your new marriage. Wondering how is that going so far, and is your wife here this week or will she travel some with you to different events? ADAM SCOTT: Well, so far, so good. I've not gotten myself into any trouble yet. So must be the honeymoon period still. Q. Is she here this week? ADAM SCOTT: No, no, she's not here this week. Q. Does she travel with you? ADAM SCOTT: She doesn't travel much, no. She works, so she's busy at home. Q. Is there any confidence gained from knowing that you were able to climb this mountain and get to No. 1, or does that confidence come from just working hard in the dirt? ADAM SCOTT: A bit of both. I think you're a fool not to use everything to your advantage. I'm definitely going to take some confidence out of this. But at the end of the day, we're all kind of happiness and confidence is based on our results and how we're playing, and I know I'm playing well at the moment, so I'm definitely looking to improve on my results. It's not far away. It would be a great week to do it. Q. Obviously, you've had a lot of success here in Texas. What is it about these courses that tend to fit your game? ADAM SCOTT: I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence or thinking back over the years, sitting, answering questions about Texas a lot of the times you get the feel that it's very similar to Australia in the way the land is, the trees. It's not dissimilar, anyway. I've always enjoyed playing out here. A fun little mini goal would be to win this week and winning all the events in Texas would be quite a fun thing to achieve, and certainly motivation for me out here this week. Q. You're at No. 1 now, and Mark (Indiscernible) talked about the pressure he felt when he was No. 1. How do you think you'll handle it? ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I don't really know. I'm going to obviously try my best. I think I've got to not think about the rankings too much like I was telling you before. I didn't focus on the rankings the last couple months, and I really tried to downplay it and just get on with playing golf, and I think that's what I need to do now. There is a lot to achieve still this year. There is an event this week, obviously, we're getting into the lead‑up to the next major championship of the year, which is a big focus for me. So I think I just need to get on with playing golf. Enjoy this week. I enjoyed Monday night and celebrating with close friends, but you've got to do that to kind of understand, otherwise everything becomes very monotonous, and just nothing great, nothing bad. You can't feel like that. You have to go through the highs and the lows. You know, this week's going to be enjoyable, but I'm going to try to get on with my golf the best I can. Q. On Monday an 11‑year‑old girl qualified for the U.S. Women's Open. I wanted to know what your reaction to that was? Also, when you were 11 years old, not just a professional event, but a major, was that ever on your radar screen? ADAM SCOTT: At 11? The club championships weren't even on my radar screen at 11. Lydia Ko's next rival there. It's quite incredible to imagine. What did she shoot? It's incredible. I didn't shoot in the 60s when I was 11. I think it's just going to be a good thing. A little bit like I was saying, with the young guys and the talent out here, it's obviously the same across the board in women's golf as well. It's exciting to see. It's a little scary (laughing). Looking at the amateur playing in the Masters last year at 14, maybe, did he make the cut? Yeah. That was hard to comprehend, really. I just think about how nervous I was playing as a professional for the first time let alone an 8th grader. It's really hard. I don't have anything better than that for you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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