How an eight-year-old set of golf clubs put Scott into the mix for Open
Adam Scott believes the “incredible” resurgence that’s left him in a challenging position after the opening round of the British Open is all down to using golf equipment he last employed successfully eight years ago.
The 44-year-old Queensland star revealed before his upsurge at last weekās Scottish Open when he came perilously close to winning his first PGA Tour event for four years, he had returned to using iron shafts he last employed in his successful 2016 season.
And using those clubs again at Royal Troon on Thursday morning helped the popular Australian veteran to a one-under par 70 that left him as one of only 17 players to break par on the opening day, five shots behind English leader Dan Brown.
āLike most weeks this year, I moved some equipment things around leading into the Scottish Open, kind of moved them all into the right spot throughout the bag, from the driver all the way down,ā explained Scott, after launching in fine style his 24th successive British Open and 93rd consecutive major in all.
āA nice pattern started emerging in my swing before the Scottish Open with those few adjustments to the equipment.
āItās incredible. Itās one of those things Iāve been looking for, like it just started feeling easy again whereas I feel like itās been hard work and I donāt know why. I couldnāt quite figure it out.
You might like
āIt wasnāt really like a technical thing. It was really more the shafts and the irons actually, allowed me to just start swinging a lot better.
āI just had an instinct that I should go back and try an iron shaft that Iāve used once before ā Iāve only ever really used three different shafts in my career ā and it was a good time to do it last week. It fell right into place.
āIt felt easy to swing the club again. It was much less work for me, which is a nice feeling.ā
Scott laughed he had used the shafts back in 2016. āI donāt know why I changed from it,ā he smiled ruefully. āI played good that year ā so, of course, I changed it.ā
Stay informed, daily
The difference, though, has been huge. āIt would be great,ā he said, of the prospect of contending again for another major, 11 years since he won the Masters.
āMy game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like Iām controlling the ball well. Thatās what you need to do out here, especially if youāre going to give yourself a lot of chances.
āI was pleased to be in contention (at the Scottish Open) because the fact of the matter is thatās the first time Iāve contended this year.
āMy game felt a lot better tee to green, and that showed up for the first time really in four years or so Iāve had some confidence in some form going into a major.ā
Scott and countryman Min Woo Lee might not have been too thrilled to trudge out of bed in the dead of night to prepare for yawningly early tee times on Thursday, but both made the best of damp, squally conditions that only really improved late in the day as Englishman Dan Brown grabbed the outright lead with a six-under 65.
Scott, who began with splashing in a birdie straight from the bunker at 7.40am, shot a one-under 70, just a stroke better than Lee, who recorded three birdies in his last four holes to get to level par, both right in the thick of the battle.
They both enjoyed their early lunches but, in the afternoon, Smith, spearhead of the six-strong Australian contingent just two years since his St Andrews triumph, had an inexplicably indigestible day, with a nine-over round of 80 ā his worst ever in a major ā triggered by a triple-bogey seven on the second.
Ā
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
