Adam Scott walked into the interview area at Royal Liverpool soaking wet, over par and having missed out on winning the elusive claret jug for another year. But with a satisfying 69 to finish the 151st Open Championship at Hoylake, the former world No.1 said he still enjoyed the UK major as much as he ever has and vowed to be back with a vengeance at Royal Troon in 2024.
The 2013 Masters champion signed off at one over par for the championship in driving drain at Hoylake to finish in a share of 33rd, 14 shots back of Open winner Brian Harman. It’s a far cry from the T8 and T5 he enjoyed in the last two Opens at Liverpool, in 2006 and 2014.
“Everything is so wet, and with the wind, I was lucky I had the first 10 holes kind of dry; then played the back nine in the rain,” Scott said after his round. “It’s a nice way to finish. I did today what I needed to do the other days and I would have had a nice week, but I finished poorly every other round. Just kind of made up the numbers this weekend.”
Scott infamously let slip a four-shot lead with four holes to play at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham, finishing second to Ernie Els. He finished T3, T5 and T10 in the following three Opens. He hasn’t had a top 10 at the Open since that T10 in 2015 at St Andrews, but still loves the links major.
“Absolutely; it’s incredible,” he said. “It’s kind of the reason I still work hard at my game, thinking I could have a chance to get that other hand on the jug that I was so close to getting. That’s what I’ll be working at over the next 12 months, to come back and have another crack and be in good form and maybe steal a trophy later on in my career.”
Scott is now four years removed from his last top 10 at the majors, a pair of them at the PGA and US Open in 2019. He remains as hungry as ever to capture a second career big victory. He may even look at scheduling changes next year in a big to win again.
“I’m hoping for it to show up at the four big ones, but I’m also at that point in my life where it’s harder to balance everything, and I think every year it’s worth having a look at kind of how you’re scheduling and how you’re preparing and what your priorities are as far as the golf goes, and I’ll certainly do that as I make a plan for next year’s kind of major season,” he said.
Scott signed off on his post-round interview by sending a message to the Open fan he accidentally struck with an errant tee shot on the 18th hole on day one. Scott had signed the glove for the fan, who despite being hit, was thankful and suggested he had become a bigger Adam Scott fan.
“Oh, is he [a big Adam Scott fan now]? You’ve got to hit someone over the head to get a fan? Not great,” Scott laughed. “Yeah, I felt for him. Probably ruined his day. But I think he’s okay. I’m glad he’s okay. Hopefully his headache wasn’t too bad.”
