Scott will find his game again with time and patience
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
He finally did what he had to do. Slammed the door shut.
Adam Scott dug deep at Las Colinas and made something out of nothing. A 48-foot putt that broke six feet and dropped in the hole. The 75th hole. A putt that left Ryan Moore wondering what else he could have done.
A putt that said, just maybe, Scott was on his way to the spot we keeping saving for him on that major short list.
A year later, we're still holding the spot. And Scott? The winner of last year's HP Byron Nelson Championship is hoping a return to Las Colinas is what he needs to break out of one of the worst slumps of his career.
As in dropping to 32nd in the World Rankings. As in five consecutive missed PGA TOUR cuts. The last time he made one was the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, where he tied for 66th.
The last time we saw flashes of brilliance? The handsome Australian was in the Aloha State, where he made the cut at both the SBS Championship and the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he finished, respectively, 18th and in a share of second.
He took a break to heal a knee injury -- he dislocated his kneecap surfing in Australia in December -- and chose not to have surgery. He says he has hyper-sensitive kneecaps; he has dislocated kneecaps six times dating back to his high school days.
"There's no foolproof fix for it,'' he said earlier this year. "As long as it doesn't affect me playing golf, I can get by with it. I just have to be really careful. ... I don't really want to go in and have surgery."
Since he's been back? It hasn't been pretty.
During this 0-fer stretch, he has played 14 rounds in a combined 26-over par. His low round was an opening 71 at the Masters. He ranks 162nd in scoring (71.96), and that includes a spectacular final three rounds at the Sony Open -- 66-66-64.
Scott's career has been a head shaker. He tied for ninth in his first Masters. He won his first TOUR event -- the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship -- at 23 and won THE PLAYERS less than a year later.
He had a game plan from the start. He had his career in perspective. He wanted to play the European Tour first and ease into the PGA TOUR. He always said he would know when it was time. But he would never turn his back on Europe or Australia.
Scott has won 14 times worldwide but hasn't contended in majors. He's had four top 10s, period, in 32 majors. Not bad for some, not good for a player with his talent. His best finish was a tie for third at the 2006 PGA Championship, add a tie for eighth at the 2006 British Open, the tie for ninth at Augusta in 2002 and another tie for ninth at the PGA, this one in '04.
That aside, his game plan was working -- he was ranked third in the world after the 2008 AT&T National -- until now.
His swing is as elegant as ever, even if it can't find fairways. He's got Tony Navarro -- one of the best in the business -- on his bag, Butch Harmon for a coach and Greg Norman as a mentor. He's got a world of talent and the world at his feet. He commands huge contracts, and he's designing his first course. He's an A-lister in television and print ads where, no matter what he wears, he pops off the screen or page.
He values his privacy and downplays his net worth and the new Gulfstream that's on the way. He's soft spoken but not afraid to speak his mind. His charitable foundation reaches out to underprivileged children
But behind it all? Well, he doesn't talk much about it, but there was last year's difficult breakup with longtime (seven years) girlfriend Marie Kojzar. And change? Lord knows, it's never easy.
If Scott could put a finger on it -- just don't make it the pinky that was slammed in a car door just prior to last year's U.S. Open -- he would. And he will.
Last year's win at the HP Byron Nelson Championship told him he was doing everything right. That all he needed was a bit more patience, something -- give or take some frustrating moments -- that has been his signature.
He did play college golf at UNLV, but he didn't move to the U.S. and try to jump into the TOUR. He won in Europe, South Africa and Asia. He took his time. He knew good things were on the way.
And now? Well, think Job and what he endured.
Scott took last week off after missing the cut at THE PLAYERS with rounds of 71-74, and now ... TPC Four Seasons, where he can walk onto the 18th green and remember the putt. And the quadruple fist pump when it went in. And the feeling that he was one step closer.
Will it be enough to break the slump? He can only hope, work hard and hang in there.
It's there. He just has to let it happen.
As he says, he's certainly not satisfied with his career, nor is he ready to boast.
Not yet.
Like we said, we've been holding that short-list major spot for a while now, so he isn't the only one who has confidence in what's ahead.
Just be patient.
Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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