<image="1" align="left" />Adam Scott says his putting is better than ever after he started using a complicated green-reading technique this year.
Observers have noticed Scott using an unusual pre-putt routine in recent months that sees him first straddle the line of his putt, then hold his fingers up between his eyes and the hole. The method is called Express Reading, and it is based on a system called Aim Point that is quite popular in the United States.
The original concept of Aim Point is highly complex, with templates to be used in practice, and calculations to be made so that the break of a certain putt can be gauged. Under the rules of golf, that technology cannot be used in a golf tournament. But express reading is a spin-off from the full system.
Scott buried a five-metre birdie putt to stay in a playoff against Jason Dufner on his way to winning the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Texas last week, but his overall putting statistics are just as encouraging as that clutch performance. The PGA Tour nowadays calculates strokes gained through putting, and Scott is 18th on the tour this year. Compare this with previous years and the improvement is obvious. Last year he was 102nd on tour in the same category, 148th in 2012, 142nd in 2011 and 186th in 2010.
"It's not really a secret, but it's based off AimPoint technology and it's a quicker way of finding a read than using all the charts and all the info that AimPoint gives, but it's the same result,'' Scott said in Columbus, Ohio today, where he is preparing to play the Memorial Tournament.
"And it's the way I got taught this by the guy who developed it, and my coach (Brad Malone), and I believe it's the way to read a green. So I've been doing it since The Honda Classic, and my putting's been very good. My putting starts to look good this year, maybe the best I've ever been. So far it's positive.''
Scott is playing the first two rounds of the Memorial with Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.