By Mark Tallentire
Wentworth, England: Adam Scott was in a sanguine mood as he took time out after Wednesday’s pro-am to reflect on the comings and goings of the global golf scene over the past few months, all of which was in marked contrast to much of what had been going on around him before the BMW PGA Championship got under way.
Scott, 42, has had a week off since finishing the FedEx Cup play-off at East Lake in Georgia, where he finished tied for fifth, and Tuesday was the first time he had touched a club since. “At this point I know where the game’s at,” he says. “It’s more about loosening the body up at this stage. It was nice to get 18 in this morning, I played very solid.”
The US $8 million ($11.8m) flagship event of the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, has attracted almost unprecedented off-course interest this week, with 15 LIV Golf-contracted players in the 144-man field and all of whom arrived straight from last weekend’s event in Boston courtesy of a private jet funded by their Saudi Arabian paymasters.
Their presence has riled more than a few with Rory McIlroy, Billy Horschel, Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry just four of several names going fully on the record to state their misgivings, the Northern Irishman even suggesting the route back to traditional tours for the rebels should be to go through the PGA’s qualifying school.
None of which is Scott’s style and after keeping his counsel all year, even though some expected him to join the most recent tranche of LIV recruits which included Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, he is delighted to be back at a WGC tournament which he describes as his highlight of last season.
“Like most players, feelings up to a certain point almost changed weekly about LIV, new information came out, ‘This is happening, that is happening,’” Scott says.
Adam Scott has turned his back on LIV Golf, with the former Masters champion focusing on the majors.Credit:Getty
“It crossed a line at some point where I felt like I’m going to waste a season playing [in 2023] and trying to work out what I should be doing and understanding it all. I had to drop it and concentrate on finishing out the season that I started in America.
“I have no major qualification guarantees for the years ahead other than the Masters. I think I’m very level-headed about the whole thing, I don’t have a problem really with what LIV Golf is doing but at this current moment it doesn’t fit Adam Scott right now and I’m here playing this week.
“I’ve focused on the majors really for 20 years and for me it hasn’t been an overnight decision to say, ‘Well, my mind changes now after 20 years.’ Although I’m older, I will still give myself time to let this landscape evolve and settle down. We will find out where we end up and what’s going on. I’ve tried, at least for the last couple of months, to remove the emotion and do what I can do, and that’s play golf.”
Scott returned to the Wentworth event after a 15-year hiatus last year largely due to the travel and quarantining restrictions in place in the US at the time. He made a decent fist of it, contending strongly on the first two days and finishing tied-14th at 13-under, and he is bullish about his prospects this time, albeit on a softer course.
‘He was presented with an incredible opportunity, for sure, and I don’t have a problem with him doing that.’
Adam Scott on Cameron Smith
“It’s nice to get a feel of it today because last year it was very solid and starting to bake out a lot, over the weekend especially, and I’ve really fond memories.”
The Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow also beckons for him this month although there are now a couple of substantial gaps in the International team captained by Trevor Immelman since Smith, the world No.2, and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, No.19, joined LIV.
“Cameron is a good friend of mine and I don’t have ill-feeling towards him,” Scott said. “He was presented with an incredible opportunity, for sure, and I don’t have a problem with him doing that. It was always going to be the case when this can of worms was opened, I guess. Certainly from the established tours’ prospective it’s a can of worms, and it’s moving and evolving.”
Next year’s Masters is the only other definite target date for Scott right now. The 2013 winner is currently ranked No.30 and he needs to stay in the top 50 to guarantee access to the other three majors.
Rory McIlroy hit out at the LIV defectors ahead of the BMW PGA Championship this week.Credit:Getty
“The build-up for the Masters starts on January 1 really,” he said.
“Once you clip over into the new calendar year, there’s no doubt that everything from that point – despite maybe having a break at Christmas, or playing early in January, that first week in April is in your mind.
“The year I won I had a really great period through January of off-season work, of practice and training and getting everything exactly in place and then I went out and just played some golf for a couple of months and my game rose to the level it needed to. Hopefully I can try my best to do something similar.”
And some of the interim will involve playing tournament golf in Australia, although his schedule has yet to be confirmed.
“I definitely plan to be going home to Oz and playing,” he added. “I’ll be home for sure.”
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