If you’re talking about Adam Scott’s game, you’re usually talking about how pretty his swing is. You’re not talking about how far he can hit the ball. But, after his first round in the Masters at Augusta National, driving is suddenly part of the Adam Scott conversation.
The 2013 Masters champion came in with a birdie-par-birdie-birdie finish to end the day with a three-under 69. He’s three behind co-leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. Looking at the statistical breakdown of Scott’s round, there is one number that stands out: average driving distance. Scott averaged 291 metres (318 yards) off the tee in his first round. If you’re thinking, Wow that sounds long for Scott, you’re right.
So far this season, Scott has averaged 272 metres (298 yards) off the tee. What has allowed him to average 20 more metres off the tee than usual at the Masters is the fact that the course is wet. Rain on Monday and Tuesday wouldn’t make Thursday the day you’d expect to have a career driving performance.
Watch @AdamScott's 3-under-par first round in under three minutes. #themasters pic.twitter.com/uMaoU3YETT
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2019
Scott’s 2019 season has been uneven, highlighted by a second-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and a lowlight being a missed cut at the Honda Classic, a month before the Masters. But after his first round at Augusta National, Scott talked about gaining confidence in his game of late.
“It’s better, but I don’t really have the results to be screaming that I’m the most confident player here,” Scott said, “but certainly, I know where and when my game is coming into really good shape and I can see it coming back and I think I got some good confirmation today with some solid ball-striking.”
Along with his long driving, Scott hit 14 of 18 greens in the opening round. Solid ball striking, indeed.
