[PHOTO: Getty Images]
One year after making a hole-in-one at Augusta National during a note-taking mission, Adam Scott might scrap his usual pre-Masters trip given his PGA Tour schedule leading into the majors seasons has changed.
The 2013 champion at Augusta National, and first Australian to don the green jacket, has typically flown to Augusta about the time of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Last year, Scott was playing a scouting round with Patrick Cantlay when Scott aced the par-3 sixth hole. But as he searches for a second career major, Scott isn’t scared of freshening it up.
Scott was not automatically qualified for the PGA Tour’s signature events in 2024 given that he did not finish in the top 50 on the FedEx Cup in 2023. The former world No.1 has received sponsor’s invitations to three of the $US20 million tournaments this year, but was unable to plan for them at the beginning of the 2024.
The Queenslander has, for the past two years, used the World Golf Championships–Dell Match Play in Austin, Texas, as his final competitive hit-out before the Masters. But with that event being canned, Scott is likely to play the Valero Texas Open (April 4-7) the week prior to the Masters (April 11-14). That will come after his Florida Swing schedule this month, which will include this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and next week’s Players Championship. Being based in Switzerland with his family and playing PGA Tour events in blocks, there simply may not be time to duck up to Augusta National.
“I’m not sure; my schedule is a little tricky to plan because I’m not necessarily in all the signature events,” Scott told Australian Golf Digest before he was accepted as a sponsor invitation into the Palmer event. “I could potentially play Tampa [Valspar Championship] and I could potentially play Valero and if that were the case, I’m not sure that I’ll go to Augusta before the tournament this year. I don’t think it’s a big deal considering I’ve played Augusta so many times. If there’s one place I feel pretty comfortable at, it’s there.”
The 43-year-old, who is playing his 23rd consecutive Masters next month, even joked he was tempted to wait until Tuesday afternoon that week to show up at Augusta National in a suit, just in time for 2023 winner Jon Rahm’s Champions Dinner.
“So many times I’ve felt like in recent years, I should just show up on kind of Tuesday night go to the dinner and play Wednesday and get going,” said Scott, who owns four top-10s at the Masters in addition to his win. “It can it can turn into a long week and you overdo it and you have those tendencies at majors to try a little bit harder.”
Scott would hardly miss out on studying any changes to Augusta National. Officials revealed last month the only tweak to the course was the Masters tees on the par-5 second hole were moved back 10 yards and to the left.
“That’s a good call, I think, because it’s going to make the tee shot a lot tougher,” he said. “You’re going to have to draw it to get your tee shot past the bunker [on the right]. That’s going to be difficult for a lot of players to execute every time. The draw with the driver is probably the least consistent shot in golf. I think that will be a good change. You’ll probably see more guys in trouble and more guys playing from the top of the hill [for the second shot].”
