Australia’s Adam Scott knows he will have to make a number of adjustments over the coming days, weeks and months as he gears up for a new-look and condensed PGA Tour schedule in 2023.
First up, the former World No. 1 has been placed in a marquee group at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane at 6.am. local time Thursday with Open Champion Cameron Smith and DP World Tour breakout star Ryan Fox. “I have a rule that I have to be awake three hours before my tee time, so that’s 3.a.m,” the 2013 Masters winner said Wednesday at Royal Queensland G.C.
After the Australian PGA, and next week’s Australian Open on the Melbourne Sandbelt, World No. 34 Scott will head to the US in January to begin a revamped PGA Tour calendar. In order to be eligible for a share in the $100 million Player Impact Program (PIP), elite tour pros like Scott will have to commit to 20 events in 34 weeks between January and August.
The heavily condensed schedule – and the desire to end a three-year win drought on the PGA Tour going back to his 2020 win at Riviera – is why 44-year-old Scott will base himself in Florida between the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and the US Open in June. Scott resides in Switzerland and travels in blocks to the U.S. to compete, but feels that is giving up ground to players living in the US.
“I don’t live in the States, but I’m going to spend way more time in the States next year to compete seriously,” Scott said at this week’s Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane. “I can’t be flying all around the world playing against guys who don’t.”
The PGA Tour getting its biggest stars to commit to the same schedule next year, and rewarding them handsomely for doing so, was in direct response to the growing threat of LIV Golf in 2022. The Saudi Arabia-funded league offered $25 million purses for seven of the eight events in its inaugural season, in which the same 48-player roster contested each event – a point of difference from the PGA Tour where players previously could pick and choose their events.
Next year, 13 PGA Tour events will be ‘elevated’ in stature and will have purses of at least $20 million. Those 13 include: Sentry Tournament of Champions, WM Open, the Players Championship, WGC-Dell Match Play, the three invitationals (Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial Tournament), RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, Travelers Championship and the three FedEx Cup Playoff events. Along with the four majors and three events of a players’ choosing, they will contest 20 events in a span of 34 weeks. There’s an elevated event scheduled immediately after the Masters and U.S. Open.
“I’m interested to see how [the schedule] will play out how it’ll be received when it’s happening, by the players and by television,” Scott said. “I don’t know that there’s ever been a better time to be a member of the PGA tour because all of a sudden there are these 13 elevated events that are at least double the money we’ve ever played for.”
Scott has also made tweaks to his team in a bid for major championship win No.2, bringing legendary former caddie Steve Williams back to job share with current caddie Greg Hearmon. Williams caddied for Scott between 2011 and 2017 following a 12-year stint with Tiger Woods. The 44-year-old Scott teamed up with Williams to win the Masters but has been unable to convert a second major from 10 top-10s since. But he’s confident some of his best golf is ahead of him.
“I guess I want to win all the majors, and that sounds like a lot, but really it’s three more events,” Scott said. “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.”
“I want to fulfil my dreams and goals as a player and time is less on my side now. I have to do everything I can to make sure I give myself the best chance. I still haven’t achieved all the things I want to achieve in my own career.”
SCOTT LAUNCHES FAIRGAME GOLF APP IN AUSTRALIAN STORE
Based on popular demand in the US, Scott has launched his co-founded Fairgame app in the Australian store, too. Fairgame Golf allows users to connect with golfers across the country and keep track of games, bets and scores. Finding other golfers can be tough if you don’t have a regular foursome, but Fairgame’s features allow you to post or search for tee times across the country to find like-minded people to play with or fill out your foursome.
“When we launched Fairgame in the US recently, we got inundated with requests from people in Australia so we hustled we launched it here yesterday,” Scott said. “We wanted to create another form of golf community and break down some of the barriers that people face when trying to celebrate all forms of golf – the driving range, social games, wagers. Like all social apps, we’re trying to create these online communities for golfers.
“So that’s really what it’s about and hopefully just stimulates people thinking about golf a bit more.”
Click here to download the Fairgame app
