Scott returns from five-month hiatus at PGA Championship
Adam Scott spoke to the media on the eve of his 20th PGA Championship and his first tournament back on the PGA Tour since the cancelled Players Championship in March.
Scott, who broke a four-year drought on the PGA Tour with his victory at the Genesis Invitational in February, is returning to a tournament where he has enjoyed some success including two third place results in 2006 and 2018 amongst six top-10 finishes.
Adam Scott (Credit: PGA Tour)
Like the rest of the field, the 2013 Masters champ hasn’t competed in a major in over a year and is keenly aware that at 40-years-old, time is running out to secure a second major title.
“Well, there’s no doubt the majors are kind of what everyone’s careers are defined and measured by at the end of the day. So it’s great that we’re back here playing for a major, and it’s been over a year, which is a long stretch, but now there’s seven in the next 12 months, I believe,” said Scott, who was later corrected about the 12 month figure.
“I’d love to win a second major championship. It’s all I focus on, really.”
Scott, ranked 9th in the world, has been conspicuous in his absence on the PGA Tour, however with no financial need to return to the US, a young family to look after and plenty of uncertainty with international travel, he was understandably reluctant to leave his Queensland home, where he was able to enjoy a relatively normal existence.
“Once you got down to everything, it was just tough to figure out if I left home, when I can get back.”
“Travelling internationally at the moment and leaving the family somewhere with uncertainty about rules and regulations changing all the time, for example, with quarantine and self-isolations and all this kind of stuff just made it difficult to really feel confident that I’d leave and be able to go back essentially.”
“My family is [now] in Switzerland, and that’s where we’ll base for the rest of the year, I guess, at this point.”
“I think I’m here at the moment through the U.S. Open for sure. It seems like I’ll be granted permission to come back to the United States through the PGA TOUR if I were to leave.”
Despite taking a five-month break, Scott has been keeping his game in check playing local courses on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast followed by a stint in South Carolina where he used his time in forced isolation to practice before arriving in San Francisco last Friday.
“We were in South Carolina at Congaree Golf Club. The club there was very generous and let us use the facility even though they’re closed at this time of year. It also served a great purpose for isolating because we didn’t see anybody for a couple of weeks,” said Scott.
“But really that felt like how I prepared a lot for major championships in the past. I’ve used Albany in the Bahamas in the past…it was just me practicing there, too, in the summer. Very little distraction.”
“I arrived here [TPC Harding] early, which I often do for majors and play normally before the crowds…just to get those extra days here and come to grips with the course.”
Scott, who is paired with Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau in the first two rounds, will join five other Aussies including Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones in the field this week.
Fox Sports and Kayo will be the only places to watch the tournament on Australian TV with action getting underway at 6am for the first three rounds and 5am (AEST) for the final round.
