Despite draining a long birdie putt on the last hole at Muirfield, Adam Scott lamented the fact that the putt only took him into a share of third place after holding the lead for periods during the final round. “I let a great chance slip, I felt, during the middle of the round and that&aposs disappointing. I&aposm happy I put myself in with a chance to — my game is in great shape, that&aposs the good thing to take from it,” Scott said. “But I didn&apost get to the number that Phil finished on, but I was right there. Had I played a little more solid in the middle of that back nine, I could have had a chance coming in.” Scott made bogey on holes 1 and 4 before his round spluttered into action on the seventh. Scott made three birdies in the next four holes and moved into the outright lead as he walked on to the 12th tee. “I knew that the way I was going wasn&apost going to be any good. But I was playing fine. And I hadn&apost got off to a good start any day out here. I just had to keep hitting good shots and being patient. And the putter was feeling pretty good, to be fair today, at that point, anyway,” he said. “And then rolled a few in and got the momentum going, but just kind of lost it a bit there on 13, aimed the putt a bit further right than I should have and missed. And then obviously made a bad error on the read on 14 from the back right.” Scott made four straight bogeys on holes 13-16 to end his chances of his first Claret Jug and revenge for Royal Lytham in 2012. “I really overthought everything on 15, and had to back off a putt there, mid-stroke. And just kind of threw my rhythm. And saw Tiger run it way by and had fast in mind, and I dolleyed it down there short, and then poor alignment on the next putt, I think. I aimed it too far right and missed. And at that point, after that one, it was deflation, really, because I could see the scoreboard and your chances are dashed.” En route to the 18th green, Scott and Woods could be seen talking as they walked past the grandstands. “I think we both just kind of were disappointed with our performance today, to be honest. And shrugging it off,” Scott said. “I like where my game&aposs at. Again, you know, up there, contending for most of the week. That&aposs where I want to be. That&aposs where I&aposve got to keep myself. And, yeah, I believe I can win another one soon. If it wasn&apost this week, hopefully I&aposll do the same stuff at the PGA, and I can put my foot down there on the back nine and run away with it.”
Author: Golf Australia