Is it Adam Scott’s time?

By Hamish Jones Adam Scott lit up Royal Lytham and St Annes in the opening round in a performance which sent the record keepers scurrying for the books as he equalled the best score recorded at Lytham and the first time he has lead Major after the opening round. “Very pleased with the start, obviously,” Scott said. “It&aposs nice just to take advantage of the calm conditions today. It was surprising but very pleasing to go out and play some solid golf. It&aposs what I haven&apost done the first rounds of the majors this year, and that was my goal here, really, starting the week was to play today like it was Sunday and there was no tomorrow.” And play like there&aposs no tomorrow he did, shooting eight birdies before coming to grief with a pulled 2 iron off the 18th tee. He made bogey and finished with an exceptional 64 in perfect conditions. Scott arrived in Lytham on the back of a top 3 finish at Congressional in the AT&T National three weeks ago and in surprise to some, is making just his 11th start of the year on the PGA Tour. His year has been solid with fewer starts, his only missed cut coming at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May. He finished tied 15th at the US Open at the Olympic Club in June where a first round 76 proved costly. “I was playing so well going into the U.S. Open I felt, and all of a sudden I was 7 over through 15 holes of the tournament, and you can&apost pick up that many shots in a major,” Scott said. “So to focus and play the first hole at the tournament like it&aposs the 72nd and you&aposve got to make three to win was kind of my mindset on the first tee this morning, really switch on right from the first tee and not just see how it goes for the first few holes.” Despite 18 career titles including eight wins on both the PGA Tour and European Tour, Scott realises winning a Major would mark a career milestone. His best finish to date in a Major was his tie for second with Jason Day on that dramatic Sunday at The Masters at Augusta National in 2011. “I haven&apost achieved my goal of winning major championships. That&aposs what I&aposve dreamt of as a kid and that&aposs what I made goals when I turned pro and what I&aposve thought about since turning pro, so I guess I haven&apost achieved that.” He hasn&apost achieved that yet. But the opening round did anything but hurt his chances.