Scott: I’m better prepared

Adam Scott went into yesterday’s first round at the Players Championship admitting he was too ‘naive’ to make the most of winning the PGA Tour’s flagship event in 2004.

Scott triumphed at Sawgrass aged just 23 and the Australian said at the time he had little real understanding of what he subsequently needed to do to win like that on a regular basis.

Now, a Major champion and close to being crowned the world #1, Scott says he has the experience to know exactly how much work is needed to stay at the top of the game.

“I was just a kid in 2004 — I didn’t know how hard the game was,” Scott said before this year’s tournament.

“Being inexperienced and naive worked against me back then. I took the wrong things out of winning The Players at a young age. 

“And completely on the other side I took all the right things out of losing an Open Championship [in 2012] and made the most out of it.

“When things are good and you’re 23, it’s pretty easy to cruise along. 

“You just expect to keep getting better and to a point that’s true; except when you’re talking about trying to get to a top-five player in the world and win the biggest tournaments.

“Your game has to withstand that kind of pressure. I don’t think I had a very good understanding of exactly what I needed to do for that to happen on a consistent basis. 

“I showed up here and played great that week and it held up, but you can pick any other big event for the five years around that time and it didn’t.”

Scott remains upbeat over his chances of reclaiming what is often referred to as the ‘fifth Major’.

“I’ve had a couple of good chances this year already and haven’t been able to pull it off, not because [getting to #1] has been weighing on my mind, but I just wasn’t sharp enough playing the last couple of rounds at a few events.

“I’m very motivated this week. I love coming back here. 

“I have been playing some good golf and not getting the results I wanted, so here’s a great chance for me to get back up in contention again and hopefully pull off a win.”