Adam Scott says he will probably revert to his trusty broomstick putter in the opening round of the Australian Open but admits he hasn&apost ruled out using a short wand at some stage this week. Scott, who revealed he is attempting to invent a new putting method, used an oversized short putter for the first nine holes of his pro-am round in blustery conditions at The Lakes in Sydney on Wednesday before reverting back to his trusty broomstick. The world No.7 missed two putts of approximately one-and-a-half metres on his first two holes of the morning and made nothing more than a tap-in on the front nine. Things didn&apost improve after the broomstick was delivered to the 10th green by swing coach Brad Malone, with the Queenslander failing to make a single long putt on the way home. Scott&aposs frustrations on the greens filtered into his long game on the par-5 11th when he sprayed his tee shot into the water and found the water twice more on the same hole. Asked which putter will get the nod in the first round, a coy Scott said: “I don&apost know, I&aposll see, I&aposll probably putt with the long putter. “The other one I&aposm messing around with, it was my first go and it&aposs just not quite what I wanted to do. “It&aposs not quite set up right for me so I might have another go at that another time if I feel the need to.” Scott&aposs new toy is approximately one metre in length, similar to a belly putter, but crucially does not touch his body during the stroke. The 32-year-old employed a similar technique with the shorter putter to the one he uses with his broomstick on Wednesday. He insists the recent decision to consider banning anchored putters from 2016 did not influence his decision to experiment with a shorter putter, saying he will probably persist with the broomstick next season. “Unless I invent a better way to putt for myself, then I&aposll stick with the broomstick,” he said. “I&aposm just playing around with a few different ideas but I certainly like a lot of the philosophies of putting with the broomstick.” Scott added that he could still conceivably use the same long putter he has now after 2016 by making a minor adjustment to his technique and called on the game&aposs rule makers to be consistent. “It&aposs simple, I can just move it slightly off my chest and use the same putter, but I think there are better ways than that,” he said. “We&aposre all searching for the best possible way and I think there&aposs still better ways for me to go about it.” Meanwhile, Scott is hoping to recapture the form the saw him claim the Australian Masters crown last month. “I&aposve had a couple of fairly quiet weeks since the Masters and it&aposs tough to say but hopefully I haven&apost lost too much of that form that I had down there because that was certainly enjoyable playing like that,” he said. “It&aposs going to be a challenge this week, it looks like it&aposs going to be good weather but windy, and that&aposs what makes this course a challenge is the wind.”
Author: Steve Orme, Omnisport