Adam Scott’s frustrations are gone after surging into the halfway lead at the long-awaited Australian Open on the Melbourne Sandbelt.
Australia’s first and only winner at Augusta National was irritated after failing to take advantage of calm Thursday morning conditions on day one at the par-72 Kingston Heath, with a 71 leaving him six off the pace. But on day two, former world No.1 Scott said his trademark “refusal to throw in the towel” was behind a seven-under 63 at an almost wind-less Victoria Golf Club.
That catapulted the 42-year-old winner of the 2009 Australian Open into a share for the lead at eight-under with overnight pacesetter David Micheluzzi (71, Kingston Heath). Josh Geary, Haydn Barron and Gunner Wiebe are tied third at five-under.
Asked why he was annoyed with his play on Thursday, Scott said it was because he was thinking too technically and not getting out of his own way. He was also determined to play well on the Open’s return to the Melbourne Sandbelt after a 20-year absence from the iconic region.
“It [was] frustrating; it’s the Australian Open [on the Melbourne Sandbelt] and I want to play well,” Scott said today. “I think I was trying too hard about trying to swing good yesterday and making it hard for myself. I did the opposite today. I looked at the target and swung freely.
“So yes it was frustrating but I’ve had plenty of bad rounds in my career and I’ve had to come out the next day. I also pride myself on not throwing in the towel. I don’t rack up big numbers too often and I don’t withdraw playing bad. I’m here to win the tournament.”
Playing with Cameron Davis and amateur Harrison Crowe, Scott birdied the short par-4 first at Victoria before another front-nine birdie sent him out in 33. He putted beautifully on the back nine, racking up birdies at 10, 11, and the par-5 14th before a stunning eagle at the par-5 18th. Scott hit his second shot into the fringe and drained a 25-foot curling, downhill putt for eagle from the fringe to cap an impressive second round.
But Scott isn’t resting on his laurels. He says his experience as a Major champion and 14-time PGA Tour winner may count in Sunday’s final round, but there was still plenty of work to do on day three. Given the men’s and women’s Australian Opens are being played together, there will be a 54-hole cut on Saturday night. Just the top 30 players and ties (including amateurs) will advance to Sunday. Only Victoria GC will host the championship for the weekend rounds.
“Hopefully I can keep running in this direction tomorrow,” Scott said. “It’s always nice if you can take a lot of players out of it. If I can play well tomorrow and anyone else who comes with and there’s only a few guys in it then maybe I have some advantage from experience in big events.”
Meanwhile, Cameron Smith (two-over) was thrown a lifeline when scores blew out in the afternoon wave to drop the cut to two-over par.
In the Women’s Australian Open, Major champion Hannah Green is the 36-hole leader (66, Victoria) at 11-under, while two-time British Open winner Jiyai Shin (68, Victoria) is second at nine-under. Current Women’s British Open winner Ashleigh Buhai, Sydney’s Grace Kim and So Yeon Ryu are tied for third at seven-under. US Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee is five-under.
