Adam Scott makes his return to competitive golf at this week’s Wells Fargo tournament as a string of big events get set to roll out in the northern summer.
Adam Scott makes his return to competitive golf at this week’s Wells Fargo tournament as a string of big events get set to roll out in the northern summer.
Scott hasn’t played competitively since finishing T9 at The Masters and will be keen to get some tournament golf under his belt ahead of next week’ PLAYERS Championship and the US Open and Open Championships in coming weeks.
One of nine Australians in the field this week Scott is the highest ranked but with the tournament being played at a new venue in 2017 all will be playing blind in a sense.
Quail Hollow, the course normally used for the tournament, is to host the US PGA in August and is closed for preparations meaning Eagle Pint Golf Club will host this week.
Scott is joined in the field by Stuart Appleby, Cameron Percy, Matt Jones, Geoff Ogilvy, Steven Bowditch, Greg Chalmers and Brett Drewitt.
While the World Number Six will be the focus of most Australian fans newly minted Professional Cutis Luck will also draw his fair share of attention.
The talented West Australian makes his second start since The Masters and despite missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open a fortnight ago acquitted himself well on debut.
Luck is entitled to seven sponsor exemptions for the season as he tries to earn enough FedEx Cup points to qualify for Special Temporary membership of the Tour and will feel the urgency to perform this week with the clock ticking.
Early reports form the Eagle Point course suggest it is one which should be to his liking, Luck known for his creative style of play and the layout drawing rave reviews from those who have seen it.
While Luck looks to find some form this week Cameron Percy and Matt Jones are both trying to continue on with some good play after solid performances in recent weeks.
Percy finished just outside the top 10 after a blistering Sunday with partner Grayson Murray at last week’s Zurich Classic and since returning from a back issue that forced him out of the Honda Classic in February has shown glimpses of brilliance.
He contributed seven of the team’s 10 birdies in the final round at New Orleans and with his confidence high will have be one to watch this week despite flying under the radar.
Matt Jones, too, has shown signs of life in his limited starts this season and while not as hot as Percy last week at the Zurich event once again had all facets of his game in decent shape.
He has made each of his last three cuts and playing his third tournament in a row this week will have some momentum heading into the week.
Stuart Appleby is another who brings some much needed confidence to the first tee after his best showing in several months at last week’s Web.com Tour event.
Like Percy and Jones, Appleby his limited status on the PGA TOUR but his T6 finish in Mexico last week suggests his game is turning around.
In four PGA TOUR starts since the New Year Appleby is yet to make a cut but with three sub 70 scores to his name last week is a good chance to break that streak at Eagle Point.
Geoff Ogilvy, Greg Chalmers, Brett Drewitt and Steven Bowditch round out the Australian challenge, Ogilvy the best performed of the group this season and coming off a decent week with Ian Poulter in New Orleans.