Adam Scott and the Presidents Cup
Scott, 44, loves the event but it hasn’t exactly loved him back. He has been playing in the biennial competition since 2003 and the Aussie star — past Masters champion, former world No. 1 and perennial winner for more than 20 years on the PGA Tour and around the world — has made or been chosen for every International Team since and still hasn’t tasted team victory.
It’s a dubious distinction but one he’s eager to have another chance to rectify this week at Royal Montreal Golf Club, site of the 2024 Presidents Cup. Scott not only will provide veteran leadership but he’s coming in with good form, having nearly won twice this summer. He finished runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open in July and the BMW Championship in August to qualify for Mike Weir’s side as one of six automatic picks in the standings.
Adam Scott’s Reflections on the Presidents Cup
AS: Playing with Ernie Els, who was in the prime of his career, in South Africa, was incredible. He’s an absolute legend and he took me under his wing that week and I learned so much so quickly from him that served me well in my own career. It has given me a great relationship with him for over 20 years and I really cherish that week when I think back to that beginning there.
Then the competition itself was unreal. What an atmosphere Tiger, obviously, in the middle of his prime there, coming down to a playoff. I remember walking with Mike Weir, I was hanging with Mike through the playoff, and we were sitting above the second green where it all kind of ended, and Mike’s like, ‘I’m so nervous right now. I’m way more nervous than when I won the Masters.’ He wasn’t even playing. I remember running down to the green and urging Ernie just to walk to the next tee because everyone was like, starting to convene on the green to meet about what should we do? And I’m like, ‘Get up there and play the next hole and win this thing.’ You know, I had full belief that he could. I’m sure he was probably somewhat relieved it was going to end there and he didn’t have to play more, but it was a quite a scene, I guess, at the time from (captains) Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to share the Cup. However, in the heat of it all, I was pretty keen to see someone win and someone lose.
AS: I’m not going to complain about the current format because I’m on the losing side all the time. It would look like we’re sore losers. We’ve had these discussions, not you and me, but like amongst players and the PGA Tour of changing the format. And we did change it in 2015. This was the format that we settled on. Part of me feels like I don’t know why it’s not the same as the Ryder Cup (28 possible points) when that’s seemingly so successful. But you know they wanted a point of difference, and they’ve got two points of difference, actually.
AS: I don’t mind the idea of a mixed event but I don’t know that the Presidents Cup should be that. Despite the lack of competitiveness, I still think the event stands well on its own. I don’t think it’s uninteresting. The Ryder Cup was dominated by the United States for a long time also. The International Team is trending in the right direction over the last couple of years. It hasn’t given us the win that we want, but I think as soon as it does it will change the perception of the tournament.
AS: It was a huge pick for me because I’d had a horrible year. Was my worst year ever. That pick was big because it came at the end of the season, got me motivated to work on my game and work myself out of the funk I was in, gave my confidence a little boost that Greg Norman and his assistants believed in me enough to put me on the team. I think I won my first match, but didn’t win a match after that, and we got a little bit trounced at Harding Park from memory, but off the back of that really turned the rest of my season around, and I ended up winning the Australian Open at the end of year, set off what I would call for the second part of my career.
AS: The 2019 one in Australia. That was a harsh one. The momentum was on our side all week, and really flipped upside down on Sunday. But personally, I didn’t play great against Xander (Schauffele). He got up on me early (in singles) and I started feeling the pressure a little bit, and he never let up. I got so far down that I couldn’t come back. I knew every match was getting important as I played throughout the round, and I felt like I’d let the side down. That one slipped through our fingers. It was months and months and months of trying to figure out how it slipped away because it felt like that was going to be our time. It would have been an epic victory to win there. It’s something that I’m still looking for in my career.
AS: Won’t be much of a secret if I put it out there first! But I’ll go out and say that Min Woo Lee could be it, and Adam Scott could be it too. If I rate my own performance the last five Cups or so, I’d say I underperformed. And if I was being tough on Adam Scott, I’d say you better perform this time or don’t bother about trying to play another Presidents Cup.
AS: No, I haven’t but I did go to the Ryder Cup for a day last year. Out of interest. I was close by, so I went down and got to watch these guys play. It was obvious to me, like this home course advantage has become a real thing in the Ryder Cup.
