Round 2: Open Championship
July 20 2012
1:55 pm
Changes paying off for Scott
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
Before Adam Scott switched to a long putter at the beginning of last season, his putting was admittedly hot and cold. And it was more often than not the latter.
“So very, very frustrating to play well and get nothing out of a round,” Scott said of his past putting woes.
Through two round of the British Open, Scott has gotten everything out of his round. He shot 67 Friday and enters the weekend just one back of leader Brandt Snedeker.
It will be the first time Scott has played in the final group on the weekend of a major championship.
“Well, I think why I’ve played good this week is it’s kind of a culmination of everything I’ve done over the last couple of years,” said Scott.
That’s included hiring caddie Steve Williams, who was Tiger Woods’ longtime caddie before the two parted ways in 2011. Together, Woods and Williams won 13 major championships, including three British Opens.
Scott also cut back on his schedule slightly to focus more on his preparations for the majors. He has seven career top 10s in majors but no wins. His best finish in a British Open was a tie for eighth at Royal Liverpool, his only career top 10 in the event.
“I feel like this is the path I’ve been going down and it just happens to have happened here that I’ve put myself in good position after two days at a major,” said Scott, who has finished in the top 10 in three of the last six majors, including a runner-up at the Masters in 2011.
He’s in that position largely thanks to his putting. Scott has always been one of the game’s great drivers and ball-strikers. This week it’s been his play on the greens that led to four birdies and just one bogey Friday.
“It’s brought more consistency to my putting,” Scott said of his long putter, which he began using in February of 2011. “Certainly making the adjustment to putt with a long putter took a little bit of time, but it was effective once I brought it out on TOUR. I putt much more consistent with it, which has a really positive effect on the rest of my game. Takes a little pressure off.”
And now it’s Scott who is putting the pressure on everyone else.
“I’m feeling comfortable because I’m hitting the ball well and things are under control,” he said. “It’s not just a fluke that I’m up there.”
Nobody cares until he stops cheating with his putter. On to the next one!
long putter isn’t nearly as contentious as a belly putter. there is no attachment to the body and it is not ‘easier’ to hit, just that scott prefers it. you would see more top players with it otherwise.
We shall see…we shall see. The weekend at a Major has strange effects on people. Maybe that belly putter won’t hold up…ha!
Talking about good game on days other than the Sunday of the championship is just waste. Adam Scott has to get 68 and 65 to win. Remember Greg Norman at St.George’s Open: he was low 60s all! The Norman Conquest shown on Tuesday, following his victory Sports Illustrated cover. I have it with me. It is your turn Adam.
Adam has talent similar to Tiger’s but his nerves betray him.
It is time. Adam must win.
There is no tomorrow. Got to do it here Sat & Sunday.
GOOD WISHES AND GOOD LUCK Scott Adam.
It’s that putter in serene conditions thats the difference … might not be so effective in a wind?
What will Adam do if they eventually ban using it against the body? Better win one quickly Adam!
I think guys like Adam or Keegs will be a BETTER putter with the shorter putter but they don’t have the confidence to switch it yet!!! But still, long putters are NOT cheating!!! Everybody can still use them!!!
KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN!
KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN!
KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN!
KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN! KEE…GAN!
I’m so upset that Luiten had a double on 17, Tiley had bogeys on 14 & 15, and Townsend had bogeys on 12-15… otherwise, the cut would have been at +2 instead of +3 & Bradley would have missed the cut! Not that I have anything against Bradley, but maybe “sean smith” would have kept is mouth shut. What an anoyance this “KEE…GAN” dude is!!
It is just sad to see a young man in his early thirties reduced to using such a putting implement. Outlaw long putters now.
R & A needs to ban putters that require no skill just a firm anchor to the body.
Dont understand how the long putter emotion still lingers. THEY ARE LEGAL. When they are banned, then guys like Scott will have to comply with the new rule. Until then his game in this event, is about staying in the zone, not sleeping with his putter.
ever tried to putt with the long putter? feels terrible.
adam scott uses a long putter. he does not shove it into his belly.
anyway, why bother getting excited?
long and belly putters will be around for quite a while yet, at least until the end of 2015. longer than that, more than likely.
has always seemed like a great young guy, nothing would please me more than to see adam win !!! sneds,,not saying i m not in your corner too !! good luck guys on the tough weekend !
To the clueless, Keegan, Web, Adam, etc. won’t be better putters with the short stick. Keegan Bradley has been using a long putter since he was a kid.
Sneds and Scott lead the Open. Tiger is just an also-ran.
what Randy explained I’m stunned that a single mom can profit $7546 in 4 weeks on the internet. have you read this web page (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/8utDz
Wonderful Open we are having. And a lot of people seem to forget that being in the position where these guys are takes a lot. I will not be surprised to se the bogeys piling on from here on in. I forsee a couple of 80 scores this weekend, mark my words. I have a feeling of that Masters tournament with young Master McIlroy. Bosun, lets go, Aye, aye Cap’n
Its crazy that this young man has resorted to an anchored putter, and its sad to see him in contention because of such an implement! R&A, please stop this insanity!
what Ray implied I’m stunned that any body able to get paid $9454 in 4 weeks on the computer. have you seen this website (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/TZBMG
Good luck to Adam Scott this WE in the British Open…
just as Rosa answered I’m dazzled that a student can make $6288 in a few weeks on the computer. have you seen this web link (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/neRju
I agree the issue is not necessarily the length of the putter but how the putter is being used. The long putter can be as contentious as the belly putter if they are anchoring it into their chest just like the belly putters are anchored into the belly.
Its the anchoring that is cheating and it IS cheating according to USGA rules. However, the USGA, PGA Tour & R&A let it slide for Langer, and then within a blink of an eye they had about a dozen people using them. Now it is practically too late for them to do anything about it because they are aware of the outcry and outrage that would ensue if they did.
The truth is, its not only cheating, but it is destroying the integrity of the game. Thing about Tom Watson and his putting problems when he got older. Thing about Johnny Miller (one of the best ball strikers in history) and what happened to him once he lost his confidence with the putter. Thing about Nick Faldo, another one of the greater ball strikers in the game, and what happened to him when he started having trouble with the putter.
If these guys had gone to long putters and anchored those putters into their body, they would have had no problems with the yips because those happen when you are nervous and the small muscles in your hand break down and you either push or pull your putts.
However, when you anchor a putter into your body, your hands are taken out of the equation, and you dont have to worry about those small muscles breaking down.
So these putters being anchored into the body are destroy the integrity of the game because the greatest putters have always been great because of their ability to make putts under pressure (Nicklaus, Woods). Anyone who understands what golf at the top level is really about knows that it is about the ability to perform under pressure.
I have played (and without trying to toot my own horn because there are so many people on here who will jump right down my throat – but about 7 years ago I myself was a +3) with guys who without a doubt totally had enough game to play on Tour. However, these guys were unable to play anything close to the way they normally played when they tried to qualify for some of the open events. A couple of them even qualified and played in the event at Avanel (before Tiger turned it into an invitational and moved it to congressional) and not only missed the cut, but finished dead last by a mile.
Basically what I am saying is that golf at the top level is all about being able to perform under pressure and that pertains to every aspect of your game. However, these guys over time learn to handle the pressure more and more as they go through experiences, and sometimes it takes a failure to learn from before they can do what they need to do (Rory at Augusta on the back nine didn’t let it affect him but instead learned from it and turned around and won the very next major).
Yet, even after learning how to handle the pressure of golf at the highest level, the pressure one experiences when they are playing something that is much more important (to them and everyone else), like a major, is still there and amplified. That has always been the case.
The difference between the greatest players and the rest has always been the ability to handle that pressure. However, when you are using a club in a fashion that enables you to circumvent the effects that extreme pressure has on you, you are cheating, and are giving yourself an advantage that none of the past great players did not have. So, in that sense, to me, the integrity of the game is being affected. I wish the governing bodies would do something about the anchoring of putters.
Thank you for your attention and don’t get upset at me if “you can’t handle the truth!”
Re long putter. Isn’t is funny how some people find something wrong in someones play when its not their man. ITS LEGAL get over it. Not everyone can handle the long putter, if they could they would all use it. Professional golfers would eat raw road kill if they thought it would improve their scores.
Ban long putters? Why not ban caddies? Golfers are the only sports people who have a trained expert beside them to tell them what shot to play and how to do it.
What about it will tell?