Interview: Adam Scott
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How are you feeling as Augusta nears?
The excitement is building every day. It’s going to be an incredible experience, like everything has been since last April. My preparations have been going well. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’ve thought about it very carefully, and everything is going in the right direction. In January and February I took six weeks off, and was at my home base in the Bahamas, and I did some really good work. Last year I took 11 weeks off between events so big breaks are not new for me and they help me prepare.
Last year you consciously avoided the post-Masters ‘media blitz’, which most Champions get embroiled in. What did you end up doing?
I was floating around on the clouds for about three weeks! I went to New York, although I was planning to go there anyway, and I did The Morning Show with CBS, and a show which went back to Australia. Those were the only two I did, but it was a whirlwind and I was running on fumes. The rest of the week was really just kind of hanging out and trying to soak it up. Which was hard because it was all really unbelievable and nothing can prepare you for that.
Where were you when you first saw the replay of you on the 72nd hole?
It was on The Morning Show on that Monday on one of the monitors. That reaction was probably slightly out of character, but maybe that was all the years of frustration of not having won a major coming out. At those moments, you see how much it means. Those are the moments you dream about holing a putt, and for it to actually happen, you get wrapped up in it. It’s pretty funny. I can’t help but smile when I see it.
There’s a photo of your celebration, where you can see Marc Leishman in the background celebrating along with you. Have you seen it?
Yes. I was sent that photo by a caddie, who had my number. I immediately sent a text to Marc. It just blew me away seeing that picture. It’s an incredible reaction by another competitor. And it is one of my favourite memories of the whole week. It just goes to show you how much we all wanted an Aussie to win, no matter who it was. We all wanted it to be Greg, and Marc and I certainly pulled for Greg so hard. But for a guy who – standing in the middle of the 15th fairway – had as good a chance of winning as me, for him to see his dreams of winning vanish, and yet be on the 18th green pulling for me to win, it was an incredible gesture of sportsmanship. I’ve talked to Marc about it, and obviously that picture tells you all you need to know about what sort of guy Marc Leishman is.
How did that conversation between you and Marc go?
He actually sent me a text, the day after I won, congratulating me. I sent him back the photo, and a text saying he was incredible, a legend. When you’re winning, everything’s a blur. But to be able to look at that now is just incredibly cool. I signed a copy of it and sent it to him. I wouldn’t normally do that obviously, but I just think it was an incredible gesture by him.
People say if you win a major, your life changes for ever. Has that been the case?
Maybe in the history books. Your name will never be erased from there. But otherwise, I don’t believe so. For me, it’s probably going to be the pinnacle of my career; because I will always be the first Australian to win a Green Jacket. But it’s not the end for me. Hopefully, it’s the start of me becoming the player I’ve always dreamed of being.
Now the Australian hoodoo of not winning a Green Jacket has been broken, will it be easier for others to follow?
Potentially, yeah. Every Aussie there will certainly appreciate not being asked whether it will be them this year. Maybe what I did has crushed a couple of dreams of others who wanted to be the first Aussie to win it, who knows? I’ll just talk about Jason [Day] for the moment, who has played in a few of them and done extremely well. He’s obviously got to be thinking he’s going to be a Masters Champion one day, and that’s probably quite likely if he keeps playing the way he has been playing. So, hopefully the shackles are off, and we’re going to have lots of Aussies up there in the Champions Locker Room.
You say your life hasn’t changed but as a private person, how have you dealt with the increased attention which comes with being Masters Champion?
All I’ve had has been compliments and praise. It’s nice to hear nice things. Yes, attention on me at tournaments has increased but that comes with the job. It’s been very smooth sailing, an incredible experience, and it’s something I’ll be trying to do again. To have a Green Jacket hanging in the closet is worth any bit of extra stuff you might have to deal with.
Does the fact that Tiger hasn’t won a major for nearly six years mean he has become less of a factor in the minds of the rest of the field nowadays?
I don’t think he’s become less of a factor. He’s still a favorite in most people’s minds, including the players, and I would expect him to be up there again. But, my generation of player – people like Justin Rose – they have 10 or 12 years experience now, and they believe it’s their time. They are not afraid of Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy. But, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Tiger wins again this year.
After you won the Players Championship, aged 23, what was the most important thing left to learn, in terms of going on to win a major?
The Players was a huge opportunity for me to take the next step. But I just don’t think I knew what it took to achieve that, in terms of the level of commitment and the work ethic and everything. I think back then I relied too much on talent and kind of threw the balls up in the air in the hope that I was going to have a good week at a major. It was kind of luck of the draw whether that showed up; and it never did. Whereas now, I think I kind of understand how I can control that a little bit more. I know how to hit good golf shots for those weeks consistently. That’s been the learning curve for me. The talent was there; but the right preparation and structure may not have been.
After the frustration at the end of 2010, of not really achieving what I wanted in the big events, I sat down and re-evaluated everything. I made of lot of changes about how I go about golf and life and everything. Not all at once, but I made some big changes. I changed the way I prepared and scheduled and started doing things to suit me, not suit other people. And that’s led to me performing better. So, I’ve got a pretty good recipe at the moment; a pretty solid base, but I’m still always trying to improve.
Given how badly you wanted to win that first major, have you had to reset your goals since?
Certainly with your core team around you, you need to do that. As much as you manage your own golf game, you’ve got to manage everyone around you as well, with them knowing where the focus is. They need to know the motivation is high, so we can all push on. There’s a lot of people who put a lot in to making it all possible. I think in my mind there was no doubt; although I wanted to get one, I always wanted to win more than one. But I think it’s important that the other people close to me knew that as well. So resetting as a group was the important thing, and I think we did that well, starting from my next event at The Players. Although we didn’t get another major last year, to win other big tournaments and have a good run back in Australia was really important.
I’d like to win all the majors but it’s a process to get to that. I think you’ve got to set your sights high; not unrealistic but high. And then it’s about working through the process to get there. So it’s very hard to pinpoint specific tournaments, because I’d like to win every time I play, but the only way I can do that is by putting the work in and preparing properly, and if I do that, then the results will come. And you may focus on the Masters again this year, but you might not win it; you might win another tournament. So you’re constantly just trying to improve and hopefully the results will take care of themselves.
The way you seemed to be able to regroup for the play-off, after the emotion of the 72nd hole, was particularly impressive.
A lot of that was down to experience. Over the past couple of years of being in contention and seeing up‑and‑downs in majors, I’ve learnt so much. In 2011, I felt like I did enough to get me over the line at the Masters, but Charl Schwartzel had an incredible finish, then I let The Open slip away at Lytham. Both experiences taught me how momentum can change so quickly, with a single shot. So watching Cabrera finish the 72nd, I knew it wasn’t over till it’s over. You can’t expect it to be handed to you, so you’ve got to really dig deep into your gut, and want the play-off to happen. If you’ve practised enough and you’ve done enough work, then you want that, and that’s the only way you’re going to win. That’s how I managed to kind of keep everything together, and I had that experience up my sleeve and for whatever reason I was thinking the right thoughts in those 30 minutes in-between shots.
What kind of reception did you get back in Australia?
I was a little surprised by the reception, because in the six months since my win I had moved on. But down there, they hadn’t. They were really revved up and I think I was completely overwhelmed by it. The turnout, the crowds, the support, it was just so pleasing to see. It reminded me a bit of what golf was like in Australia when I was a kid, with top players like Norman, Grady and Baker‑Finch leading the way as major champions, and me aspiring to that.
If you had to pick one memory from the last year that you’ll always cherish, what would it be?
There’s a lot of them. Waking up on Monday morning, having a Green Jacket just by the bed, I will never forget. Seeing people’s reactions to seeing the Green Jacket in my house has been a lot of fun for me. But, probably, being able to share the experience of winning with my dad was the biggest thing. His whole life has been golf, and it was incredible he was there. And then to be able to share some time at home with him and talk about it.
How often have you tried that Green Jacket on in front of the mirror?
When I get to Augusta this year it will be about 365 times I reckon.
The jacket feels kind of light. It’s a pretty good fit considering they have a bit of a guess at your size, but I don’t wear it anywhere too unusual because they give you a two-page list of rules for it. That came as a bit of a surprise. It’s not exactly casual wear in their eyes. You have to be dressed up to have it on in public. There’s nothing to stop me wearing it around the house. Sometimes I just see it hanging in the closet and think ‘ahhh, why not?’ The Augusta people certainly prefer you don’t go out on the turps (alcohol) with it that’s for sure. They don’t want you to take it to the local dry cleaners and just drop it off either. I think it is funny they give you a sheet with some rules. That means they must have had some issues in the past.
When people see it, they don’t even think it’s real. They just stare at it, like it’s this mythical thing – the Green Jacket! The other day a friend came over and he just about died when he saw it lying on the sofa. That side of it is enjoyable. I’ve had it with me almost every week since they gave it to me.
Has winning the Masters made you think about yourself differently?
Maybe not as much as I thought. It is obviously proof that you can win a major. But I already felt like I could and maybe that’s why I did end up winning. My coach, Brad, will tell you he saw it coming, in the months leading up to it.
Do you think the reaction in Australia would’ve been different if you’d arrived home with a Claret Jug rather than a Green Jacket?
That’s interesting. I think it would have been different. The whole stigma of an Australian not winning the Masters stood out. We are a pretty proud sporting nation. Cadel Evans won the Tour de France in 2011, so we basically felt like that left the Masters as the final notch in the belt which Australian sports didn’t have.
Are you planning to go to the course in the weeks leading up to the Masters?
Yeah, I will definitely go up earlier. I’ll try and do what I did in previous years. I think it would be fun to go up with someone and kind of take it all in. I’ll probably need two days; one day to get my head right and get over all the emotional stuff; and then a day of work. But it’s something that I’m looking forward to so much. My father has never played the course; so hopefully he can come over, and we can get that in before Masters week. It’s an exciting time of year as a golfer, and for me this year, heading towards the second week of April is a real buzz.
Finally, what are your thoughts on Ike’s tree coming down?
It’s sad but these things happen. Anything that lives will eventually die, I guess. And they have done a lot of work to keep it standing a long time. It’s gone and it will be part of Augusta history forever. But the course has evolved over all these years and it will keep on evolving. Whether they replace it or not, it was a tight hole, so seeing a little bit more of the fairway will be nice.
