Can Adam Scott get his Open revenge?He chats with our friends from FOX Sports Australia ahead of his challenge. Coverage on Fox Sports 4 at 6pm Thursday AEST. #CantWait
Posted by Golf Australia on Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Adam Scott has vowed to attack the Old Course early this week as he seeks his first Open Championship.
Scott, who turns 35 the day of the opening round, has come agonisingly close to lifting the Claret Jug with three top-five finishes in the past three years.
And the Queenslander is confident he can take the next step coming off a rousing finish at the US Open.
“I feel like I’ve got the momentum and confidence going,” the world No.11 said today.
“I want to get out there this week, get on the front foot and get in amongst it early.
“You don’t’ want to be chasing here because if it’s benign the leaders are going to shoot low scores.
“I’m playing good (golf) and coming off a really good US Open showing and I’d certainly like to keep that form rolling the rest of the (northern) summer, but certainly here this week.
“I’ve got a good preparation going and hopefully I’ll be there on Sunday.”
Scott shot a tournament-low 64 in the controversial US Open at Chambers Bay last month to storm into a tie for fourth, finally showing the form missing in his slide from world No.1 last year.
But Scott now measures his success by major championship performances and he’s desperate to get on the right side of his previous tight Open battles.
“It’d be a dream come true, really. I’ve certainly gotten comfortable playing the Open the last few years and had a couple of really good chances to win it and haven’t.
“So I’d certainly like to make amends for that.
“But it’s gonna be tough. So much depends on the weather, what time you tee off. A lot of things have got to fall into place and you have to play really good as well.”
Scott played early today, putting the finishing touches on a preparation that began when he arrived early last week to play the Old Course several times.
“(That’s very) helpful for me. Adjusting to links golf is a very different style.
“Once the wind blows around here you can’t hit full swings on irons and hit it high and soft, you’ve got to start playing along the ground or near the ground.
“I feel like I need at least a week to do that and feel comfortable … almost as if it’s a natural instinct.
“Because it’s hard to get your head around hitting a 4-iron 150 yards when you’re used to hitting it 220.”
As usual, Scott has been spending much of his practice time on the putting green, but this time with a special St Andrews twist.
“It’s a course where you don’t hit it close all the time and you’ve got to lag putt well,” he said.
“Sometimes you’re putting from over 100 feet from the hole, so you’re going to leave yourself a lot of 6-8 footers for your second putt.
“So you have to prepare for those, too.”