Scott back in the hunt

Adam Scott found himself back in the Emirates Australian Open today, without doing anything spectacular. The fact is, the tournament went nowhere as the wind whipped up at The Lakes in the afternoon, and by holding his ground, the tournament favourite has given himself a chance over the weekend. Scott, the world No. 7, carded a one-under-par 71 to go with his opening 72. At one-under overall he is tied 15th, just five shots back from the lead held by Marcus Fraser. The compacted leaderboard has more than 20 players right in contention. Scott continued to struggle on the putting surfaces, rocking back in mock surprise when he rolled in a birdie putt from four metres at the par-four 10th hole. Five of the six birdies he made over the opening two days were on par-fives, which are easily within his reach in two shots. The greens are just slower than I had in my mind, so a lot of good putts didn t go down, he said. It’s not easy out there. No one s doing anything so I ve got away with it. I kept myself in with a chance to make a move tomorrow and Sunday. I ll have to play a bit better than I have though. Scott had a drama on the par-five 11th hole when his three-iron second shot, aimed at the green but pushed right, landed on the bank and trickled back into the water hazard that guards the putting surface. After an interminable delay while television checked if the ball had flown across the hazard line (meaning he could have taken a penalty drop near the green), Scott chose to go back near where he had struck the shot from. The television replays were not conclusive. Obviously it made a huge difference to where I dropped the ball, he said. I wanted to be sure. You can t drop it up by the green if there s any doubt. It was close but there s no certainty either way. You don t get benefit of the doubt to drop next to the hole. The Queenslander dropped at the point of entry, then struck a beautiful mid-iron shot 160 metres over the water, holding against the right-to-left wind and stopping a metre from the flag. It was one of the moments of the tournament, and to complete the entertainment, he rolled in the putt for par. Scott has had time off since his win in the Australian Masters and at the end of a long and demanding year, it has been difficult for him to regain his momentum. Asked what he planned for the weekend, he said: Make a few putts always helps. It seems to be the recipe for golf.