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THE BARCLAYS


August 25, 2013


Adam Scott


JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

LAURA NEAL:  We'd like to welcome Adam Scott, Champion of The Barclays and No. 2 in the FedExCup standings.
You said up there that you went to the booth just kind of being polite, you didn't really think you had a shot at it.  Just talk us through the last hour or so.
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, I mean, shocked really that that was good enough to hold up.  But I guess it's different playing an hour and a half in front of the leaders and the guys who have been under pressure all day than when you're out there‑‑ and I know how they feel.
When the pressure is on you to close out, it's much harder and the holes become much harder and shots are far more crucial.  I mean, I feel like I've been given a bit of a gift, but I'll take it, that's for sure.

Q.  The three, Justin Rose, Tiger and then Gary, did you even see any of them, their putts on 18?
ADAM SCOTT:  No, I saw Justin's put, I was in the locker room and then I was walking to the range and Tiger had his go at birdie, so I didn't see.  I just heard the crowd not cheer, really, and then I was watching on the range for Gary's putt.  I figured I needed to loosen up a little bit.

Q.  Curious, Justin's putt‑‑
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, yes, a little bit.  I didn't expect him to 3‑putt at all.  But I think he was probably thinking more like me‑‑ he might have been believing that he needed to get to 12 to have a chance, not just to beat me.
If a guy like Gary or Tiger hits it in the fairway on those closing holes, they are going to have a great look at birdies, and Gary did.  He had three great looks at it and couldn't make one.
Justin was a bit surprising, but he was probably having a run at it.

Q.  Your putt on 18, did you think that was to get into a playoff?
ADAM SCOTT:  Oh, yeah, I definitely think I needed that‑‑ I didn't really know, but I thought I needed more for sure, because they had not even played 13 when I was putting out.  So I thought I needed at least one more to even kind of think about hanging around. 

Q.  How tough was it to have to wait around and not know what's going to happen or what the result was going to be?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, it's not too tough.  It's quite good to have to wait around on a Sunday.  It's something I'd like to do more.  Like I said, I was surprised that it kept‑‑ things kept happening in my favor, and ultimately, I didn't have to go back out and hit another shot.  But yeah, I didn't mind waiting at all.

Q.  Can you give us a sense of just how difficult the golf course is playing, especially particularly 18 and the green there?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, it's a course where it presents a lot of opportunities, but there are stretches of tough holes, and you have to get through them, and 15, 16, 17, 18 are pretty strong holes to finish.
You know, 15, 17 and 18 require three good drives and three good second shots to create a chance, and easy bogeys if you don't by driving it into fairway bunker or missing the green.
16 is an opportunity, but it's a pretty precarious position and tee shot, too, if you're going to have a go for it.
Like I said, those holes obviously showed their teeth to the final groups today.

Q.  If CBS doesn't invite you to the booth, would you have packed your bags?
ADAM SCOTT:  No, Steve was packing them‑‑ yeah (laughter).  And then we had to unpack the bag to go to the range (laughing).  But he was courteous enough to hang around just in case (laughing).

Q.  I think yesterday on 13 maybe, you dropped back to 3‑under for the tournament, so you were probably about nine or ten off the pace.  Did you feel‑‑ I know you made the three late birdies to get you a little bit back into it, but did you feel that you had given it away, and what have you learned from this experience, basically?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, there's always something to learn out there, but I was playing like a dog after 13 holes yesterday, it was horrible.  Was feeling a bit fatigued after a long Friday slog, and just the body was off, the rhythm was off, couldn't find anything, and somehow made three birdies and salvaged a half‑respectable round, but felt my tournament was really over, and I was just looking for a good finish and trying not to slip down these FedExCup points.
But there you go.  You're never out of it and you never know what can happen.  Again, it's proof, and I've been on the only side of it, too, where it's never over.  So you've just got to stick in there, and those three late birdies yesterday saved my week.

Q.  Do you think this is your best round you've played, best tournament since the Masters, or have you played better, but just haven't won?
ADAM SCOTT:  I mean, I think I've played a lot of good golf this year, and felt I could have won a few other tournaments if things went my way, and didn't.  I didn't feel like I played my absolute best golf this week; certainly not with my third round, which was pretty average.
But there was obviously enough good stuff, and I played pretty smart and played to my strengths and kept myself out of too much trouble, which there's a lot of around here, a lot of water, long grass, a lot of bad spots to miss it on greens, and I think I did a good job of not making too many big errors.
So I don't know if it's my best golf since the Masters, but I think I've played consistently well since then and managed to win this week.

Q.  The score is much lower this time around than when the tournament was played here in 2009; what about the course was different this time?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, I think the weather played a big part in that.  But they made some very nice changes to greens out there, and the way they presented this course, it was in perfect shape.  So I think you hit good putts, they were probably going in, because the greens were pure and true.
And it played somewhat shorter than its yardage probably; the wind made it play a little shorter.  So I think guys were taking advantage of that and shooting good scores.

Q.  You made it clear at the Masters that you wanted that to be a springboard and not just the sum total of your year.  You've been stalking another win ever since.  What does it mean to you to have multiple wins this year?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, it's big.  I've really been trying hard and trying hard not to get frustrated when it has not happened when I've been in contention.  So this does definitely mean a lot; to have multiple wins on the PGA TOUR is a pretty good accomplishment I think.  There aren't too many guys doing it regularly, and I'm not either, but I'd like to.
I'm trying to jump off that springboard that you're talking about and win more regularly and I think I'm going about it the right way, and a bit fortunate today, but you've got to take your breaks when you get them.

Q.  Two questions and I preface the first by congratulating you on a very fine year.  But if somebody were to watch you swing the club right now, I think a question would be, you know, why isn't this guy winning more often.  You've touched on it a little bit.  I guess the question would be:  Have you learned anything over the years about what it takes to win a tournament?  You've won 20‑odd in your career.  You're playing fabulous right now, but they might stack up as much as they might have four or five years ago.
ADAM SCOTT:  You know, it's interesting, I felt like earlier in my career, I gave myself a lot more chances to win tournaments, because I played a lot more and I seemed to win a couple tournaments every year, not on the PGA TOUR but around the world.
The last couple years, my focus shifted a bit and I changed my schedule and played a lot less tournaments, so I think I've got less opportunity to win and focused on the bigger tournaments, which are not easy to win; not that any others are.
And kind of developed my game into being more consistent, performing in the big ones, and now trying to adapt that to be a winner on a more frequent basis is what I'm working towards I guess.
So it's all a process, and the swing can look good, but it doesn't mean I hit good shots all the time, as well.  So I find myself in plenty of trouble during the week, and you know, like everyone, we are always searching for better.

Q.  And secondly, needing to get as many birdies as you can coming in, I wonder if you can talk about your decision to play 16 the way you did.
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, it was‑‑ my nature is go for it.  But it was a yardage that I just couldn't handle.  I just had no real shot for that.  Taking 15 yards off a driver is pretty hard to judge in a left‑to‑right wind and 3‑wood was just going to kind of end up 15, 20 yards short, and leave me really, what I think is a pretty difficult pitch.  You've got really a small margin for error on the pitch, and I didn't like the fact that I had hit a really nice 3‑wood and have a really hard shot.  I could hit a nice 6‑iron and have a pretty easy wedge.  It was a good putt to make.
But you know, you want to go for it and create a chance, because like at that point, I felt I needed plenty of birdies to finish, probably three.

Q.  Disciplined to think that away.
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, it's good discipline.  I've got a good disciplinarian standing next to me (chuckles).  So when I explain some logical thought to him, he'll hold the 3‑wood and give me the 6‑iron.

Q.  What did you hit there?
ADAM SCOTT:  I hit 6‑iron off the tee.

Q.  Have you run across Justin since the end of the tournament?
ADAM SCOTT:  I just bumped into him in the locker room and there's not much you can say.  I mean, he's got to be feeling disappointed obviously, and it would have been pretty fun if we went out there for a ding dong in a playoff.

Q.  Did you send him a text and say this is our time and he wins next week?
ADAM SCOTT:  I've learnt my lesson from that (laughter).

Q.  For the partylast week ‑‑ (no mic).
ADAM SCOTT:  I don't know, that's retrospect now, I guess.  Like I said, I did a better job partying last week than him.

Q.  Tell us about your caddie, Tiger Woods' caddie and now your caddie, what role does he play?  He plays a decent role in controlling your game I guess to some extent?
ADAM SCOTT:  Well, he's the guy who can influence me out there, really.  And everyone knows, he's one of the best in the business.  There's a reason why he's worked for so many great players over the years, and he's been a great asset to me for sure.
You know, it's like any relationship, you get to know each other better and better as time goes on, and I think this year we've certainly started understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses better, and had to handle certain situations.  And when we are in contention, I know what his tendencies are and I think he knows what mine are, and we try and do the best we can with that.  Hopefully we just work better and better together.

Q.  At the beginning of the day, you were six off the lead?
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, six.

Q.  Just curious, do you look, did you even think at that or did you look at the guys ahead of you?
ADAM SCOTT:  No.  I mean, I kind of figured, there's so many good players in front, guys playing well obviously.  I just tried to have a good score today.  I want to finish as high as I can.
I was disappointed to play poorly on the Saturday when I was in contention starting the day, so I wanted to make up for that.  That was all I was really thinking about.  Even getting the lead or getting near it on the back nine, I thought they would closeout a little differently than they did.

Q.  Could we get the details on your birdies?
ADAM SCOTT:  I birdied 5, it was a 2‑iron, wedge and a 4‑footer.  Drive, 3‑iron, and two putts from the fringe from about 30 feet on 6.  And 7 was a driver, 9‑iron and a 15‑footer.

Q.  What did you do on 13?
ADAM SCOTT:  Horrible tee shot.  I hooked it left in the water on the 7th hole in front of the tee.  It was terrible.
I dropped it and hit a 2‑iron right of the green and then chipped and putted for five from about 40 yards.

Q.  You didn't swing well on that one then.
ADAM SCOTT:  There it is, no, I did not.  It was an awful shot, terrible.
LAURA NEAL:  Congratulations again.  Good luck throughout the rest of the Playoffs.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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