DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | One of his experiments has gone horribly wrong. Adam Scott is now hoping the other one does not.
The 41-year-old Aussie has been dividing opinion ever since he rocked up in the UAE for the two Rolex Series events sporting a full, scraggly beard. The bad news for those who think Scott looks sexy even in a Santa suit – it’s about to go away.
Scott is helpless. Those protesting his beard include a couple of very powerful people.
“I’m sure it will be off shortly. My daughter doesn’t like it, and my mother doesn’t like it either. Eventually it will have to go,” said Scott, settling down for a chat on the eve of the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, an event he has added to his schedule after 20 years.
That is typical Scott, the quintessential family man. So, it seemed natural to ask if the recent shifting of his residence to Crans-Montana in Switzerland, which is not exactly a year-long golf destination, was another example of him putting his family before his golf.
“I think you should ask my wife that question,” quipped Scott. “We were in and out of Switzerland before. But now that the kids are in school full-time, we’re fully based there.
“I wouldn’t say I sacrifice my golf. As much as I am invested in my career, I am obviously more invested in the well-being of my wife and kids. We feel schooling is fantastic in Switzerland and the environment is very safe and calm.
“I certainly don’t expect to roll off the ski slopes and think that I’m good enough to come somewhere like this and win against such a strong field. So, when it was snowing, I was in Abu Dhabi for two weeks before the tournament, preparing.
“So, I have to balance everything, and time management is so important. At this point in my career, there are about nine months of the year where I totally prioritise golf, but for the other three months I give myself some time away from the game. The balance is good for me.”
In fact, the surfing-crazy Scott has planned it so well, he has even found a place to ride the waves among the mountains. “Honestly, I can. There is a surfing wave pool (Alaia Bay) close to our place which is open throughout the year.”
The relocation has definitely shaken up his schedule, and with Scott also rediscovering his mojo for the game, he is hopeful 2022 is going to be his best year yet.
“Having moved my base back to Europe over the last couple of years, it was really a sensible geographical choice to start the year here with the good weather and golf courses. These being Rolex Series events made that decision quite easy,” said the world No. 50.
“A little less travel. It just makes things a little easier when you’ve played for a lot of years. Sometimes, you’ve got to make some changes. Sometimes it’s equipment or sometimes it can be the schedule.”
Last year, after a tied 46th-place finish in the Open Championship at Royal St George’s, Scott told reporters he was “incredibly disappointed ... tired of playing mediocre golf.”
But things have clearly changed, and a key ingredient was a change of driver head.
“I was very frustrated by the end of St George’s. The major season had come and gone for me with not great results, not threatening even,” Scott said. “My goals are to win major championships and it was a year wasted.
“Because I’ve been a good player, even though I post respectable scores, I knew deep down that it wasn’t really close to being ultra-competitive and being in contention. I had to make some changes.
“My driver was just not behaving for me last year. I just wasn’t in the right place with the right combination of shaft and head. Titleist helped straighten that out. It’s incredible how that one little change in what is my strength, and my game started getting better and everything became a little bit easier. And of course, my mood lightened up a bit and the results got a little better as well.”
“I am trying to keep the momentum going a little bit and not be so stop-start and lose my rhythm of golf. I now want to find a way to just keep that flowing throughout the year without having to go away and feel like I’m rebuilding every part of my game to get ready for a major championship.”
adam scott
Scott said the biggest aim in his career right now is to win majors and make sure he is contending in them. In 16 major starts between the 2011 PGA Championship and the 2015 Open Championship, Scott won the 2013 Masters and finished inside the top 15 in 13 other appearances. That is the kind of consistency he is yearning for.
“I had a very good plan obviously at that point when I was winning the Masters and it would be pretty safe to say I was as good a performer at the majors as anyone in that period of three, four years,” he said. “But a lot of things in my life have changed since then.
“Just like I’ve made some changes to my schedule to start this season, I’m making some changes in my preparation for majors and certainly in the playing schedule. I am not being so fixed on (the idea that) I need a week off or two weeks off before a major. Maybe, I need to play the week before a major.
As he is not a big fan of the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play, it was an open question as to whether he would change his mind about that tournament as well? The last time he played it was 2016.
“I’m going to play the Match Play,” Scott said. “I know I said it’s not been very productive for me in the lead up but again that was when I was on a different kind of mindset and plan of preparing for the majors. I think I can use it as an opportunity to have a different mindset going in to the way I’m playing golf and just kind of attack for a few days and see what happens when I am playing very free and have nothing to lose.”
Scott, a Rolex brand ambassador, is also known for his deep thinking in the sport, and that was evident once again when he was asked one thing he’d change in golf.
“I think the one thing, and it’s very broad, but you have to really understand the difference between the professional game and the amateur game,” said Scott. “It’s further apart than ever. It needs to be separated … and I’m not saying you need to bifurcate the rules. But I do think it would be great to have certain different rules for us as professionals and amateurs.
“I don’t think (change) the ball. We have to accept we’ve gone so far with some things. I certainly don’t think a good look for golf is to go backwards. Nothing in the world is going backwards. I think there are lots of little areas within the game that potentially could be beneficial for pros.
“But to be more specific, I think they should shrink driver head size. The knock-on effect of that would be that we would adjust other things. My kind of rationalising of driver head sizes is that in the evolution of golf, the driver, or the longer clubs, were always the hardest clubs to hit. And now the driver has become the most forgiving club in the bag. I would try and bring it back to having the driver become the most difficult club in the bag again.”
Top: Adam Scott finished tied 10th in Abu Dhabi and tied ninth in Dubai.
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