[Photo: Tracy Wilcox]
Adam Scott has been around long enough that when he won the Tour Championship in 2006, the FedEx Cup Playoffs were one year away from being created. The payoff was exceptional in its day, worth $US1.17 million. He can win nearly 10 times that tomorrow, and that would be no small achievement.
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Wielding a new putter this week after his regular club was damaged in transit from St Louis to Atlanta, Scott fired a five-under 65 in the third round at East Lake Golf Club to give himself a chance to win his first PGA Tour title in more than six years. At age 46, the Queenslander is the oldest player in the field and would be the most senior winner of the playoff finale, surpassing Tiger Woods, who was 42 years old when he captured the 2018 title.
At 12-under 198, Scott is tied for third and trails 54-hole leader Viktor Hovland by three strokes.
“I’d love to get back and win a tournament. Any tournament would do,” Scott said earlier in the week. “This one I’m playing in this week would be fantastic. To be a FedEx Cup champion is really one of those career milestones that I’d like to achieve still. I know time is really not on my side for that.”
Perhaps not, but he just needs one strong round to capture the $US10 million first prize. The key, as it usually is, will be having another torrid day on the greens. Scott converted nearly 132 feet of putts today, the second-best performance of the season for the 2013 Masters champion.
A fresh putter seems to have helped. His was damaged, he said, after leaving the BMW Championship last Sunday at Bellerive Country Club. “Yeah, so it’s exactly the same as the putter I had last week, but my putter got damaged travelling here,” Scott said. “And before I even saw it, my caddie took the headcover off when we arrived and a spare shaft from a driver got caught up in the [putter] headcover and scratched all across my alignment line. So LAB shipped in a new putter for me before I knew it, and I went with it and it’s feeling good, and it’s obviously working. So some good vibes there.”
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Ranked 51st in the world, Scott owns 14 PGA Tour titles and 14 international wins. He spoke after an opening 66 about remaining a relevant competitor against a slew of younger players, and he was reminded of the physical challenge of doing so even as he climbed up the leaderboard on Saturday. He joked that “I’m that guy now,” when the subject of his longevity was broached.
“I don’t know if the oldest guy in the field comes out fresh,” he said, responding to his good friend Trevor Immelman of CBS Sports about preparing for the final round. “He just comes out to the course, but it is, it’s a big recovery now. I think if I’m being honest, even today I felt a little bit fatigued compared to the first two days. We’ve had a long couple of weeks playing these summer events. So recovery is key right now. I think the game’s in good shape. I’m going to believe you, Trevor, when you say my putting stroke looks the best you’ve seen it in a while and not go practise too much and just come out rested and full of confidence tomorrow.”
