Scott makes changes in chase for more majors - PGA of Australia

Scott makes changes in chase for more majors


By his own reckoning, Adam Scott believes he needs to win just three more tournaments to fulfil the potential of what is already one of Australian golf’s great careers.

Fellow headliner at this week’s Australian PGA Championship, Cameron Smith, has an Open crown that Scott covets so dearly which would leave just the US Open and US PGA Championship to complete a career grand slam.

At 42 years of age, the enormity of the task is not lost on Scott. But the 2013 Masters champion is instituting significant changes to give him the best possible chance of bringing it to fruition.

The man who was on the bag nine years ago at Augusta National – Steve Williams – will caddie this week at Royal Queensland and next at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.

It is a part-time reunification that will see Williams and Scott’s current caddie – Perth-based Greg Hearmon – share duties throughout 2023 as Scott seeks to maximise the time he has left at the top of his game.

“I want to fulfil my dreams and goals as a player and time is less and less on my side,” Scott conceded.

“I have to do everything I can to make sure I’m giving myself the best chance.

“I wanted to win all the majors. That sounds like a lot, but really, it’s three more events.  It’s just got to be the right week.

“I have all the tools. I’m still very healthy. I’m still moving the golf ball well and I have a lot of experience, and I’m just trying to put it all together.

“It’s a process to that. Certainly, playing consistently better is going to help that. I’m doing everything I can to get that consistency up, like shifting my schedule around a little bit and spending a bit more time in the States next year and doing a little less travel.

“All these things to kind of chip away and get myself ready for the events I want to win the most.”

No caddie has enjoyed more success in the majors than Williams, whose career started with Peter Thomson and has included time with the game’s two most dominant No.1s, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods.

Williams made the decision to put the bag down at the end of 2017 but Scott said it took very little persuasion to entice him back out on tour.

“He was banging down my door,” said Scott, who returned home to Queensland on Sunday.

“He loves it. Don’t believe anything else he says, he loves it.

“Steve and I have stayed in touch ever since he worked for me. You get to different stages in your life, whether you’re Steve the caddie or Adam the golfer. I feel like when he stopped working, he’d been away for a lot of his life travelling and his son was at an age where he wanted to be with him while he was still a kid, and he’s a big kid now.

“Steve’s position in life has changed again and mine has too. I’m in a very different position than when we left. It’s nice that we feel like it could marry back up again and yield some good results. It’s a good energy, that’s for sure.

“We’re kind of seeing if we’ve got some magic in us these couple of weeks.”

As he settles in for an extended stint on Aussie soil, Scott is also making some adjustments to home base.

Following the disruption caused by COVID-19 Scott will spend more time in the US in 2023, limiting another of the variables he hopes will deliver better golf more often.

“I don’t live in the States, but I’m spending way more time in the States next year,” said Scott, who launched his ‘digital clubhouse’ app called Fairgame in Australia on Thursday.

“If I’m going to compete seriously, I can’t be flying all around the world playing against guys who don’t.”


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