Adam Scott Wednesday Press Conference 2024 Fedex St Jude Championship

Intro all right we'd like to welcome Adam Scott to the interview room here at the FedEx State Jud Championship Adam you're entering the week at number 46 in the FedEx Cup three top 10 finishes this season can you just recap your year as we head into this playoff stretch yeah I think I think it's been a tough year to get some momentum going for me but I finally did there over in the UK having a good result at the Scottish open in the open and helping my calls into the playoffs a lot uh and you know just spent the year trying not to get too frustrated with not getting great results and finally came around so I'm excited for the next few weeks and hopefully I can play well here and and go all the way through Course Atlanta speaking of playing well here you finished T5 in 2022 can we just get overall comments on the course I know you just came from your proam yeah I think I think it's one of the underrated courses on tour uh you know requires or at least tests every part of the game especially mentally the patients needed around here it doesn't really Stack Up yardage wise with some of our big courses but it there's Precision needed around here and it's hard if you're off whether you're playing from the rough off the Fairway or missing greens uh it's not easy to scramble for the whole week so I like this golf course it's a good challenge and I've had some good results here in Playoffs the past with that we'll open up to questions if you can just raise your hand we'll get a microphone over to you we can get you a mic Doug caught you off guard Doug usually Doug likes to lead these things off because he's he's got it but once he gets going you know how that goes Adam nice to see you um how how do you feel about uh the playoffs as a point where it's it's really kind of a new season in a way or or I guess my question is does it feel more like a new season when you get to this point yeah I think I mean sitting in my position uh there's there's so much to play for um I think everyone has a lot to play for but uh it can these few weeks can turn a just an average year into a really great year on tour playing well on the right weeks I did that a couple years ago in fact a couple years ago I would have said I I played quite poorly for the season and had a good run in the playoffs and made it to Atlanta and all of a sudden you you've had a great year so a similar thing coming in here although I played better this year than a couple years ago um and even last year there's there's a lot to gain I think for everybody who's made it here uh even the guy sitting number one you know there's still a lot he's he's achieved almost as much as you can but there's he's going to want to finish off his year and as that dominant player what uh what has been the difference for you this year why are you playing a little better what have you done better um yeah you can answer that Doug got I think I think I've improved in most areas of the game this year although not drastically but um you know I've tried really hard does that count I've I've tried really hard because I find it really challenging at this point playing mediocre Golf and uh I very frustrating and and like I said opening up here it I've tried not to get frustrated I felt like it's close and you know I I was moving some equipment around this year and with all the right intentions not always Landing in the right spot but I feel like just before the Scottish open through the bag landed in a good spot and that's been very helpful confidence-wise and I think it showed in my results straight away how did you land in the right spot um I I caught up with kind of my trusted visor uh from from years of work with him on equipment back in the UK and you know a little bit of a heart tohe heart like Adam you know what what's going on here what have you been thinking about uh because I've kind of been out there doing it a little bit on my own um and and just got everything lined up a little better and you know I think I think um over the last couple years probably undervalued that part of the professional game you know equipment and technology is a big thing you see it every week guys working on trackman and and that's not really where I've grown up and yeah if I was critical of myself although intentions being right I probably didn't manage that as well as I could have and and certainly see the need to be more on top of that going forward was there a certain um piece that you sorted out before the two weeks in Scotland I think most notably like changing the shafts in my irons was a was a big one and my driver as well and um you know just getting that to match up better with my golf swing M made a big difference to the shot and and therefore the confidence and you know it's It's Tricky when you start testing shafts I mean there are thousands of options so it's helpful to narrow it down and not get lost in testing especially in the middle of the year I was going to say is it even more trickier in July than it would be in December yeah I I think you know In fairness to uh uh In fairness to these guys who are the club Fitters um you know their knowledge is helpful in in narrowing it down you know and that's that's why I found that so valuable because I I knew it wasn't right and it's frustrating to play on when it's not quite in the right spot and it is one of those things as soon as as soon as the iron shafts changed the first swings they just felt easy again yeah to that point I was going to ask you when you say mediocre golf is it in the scoring or is in the quality of shots and I think you're alluding to maybe quality of shots yeah yeah like I I think I can do so much better I'm a fairly experienced player know how to score even on a bad day so I I generally think I can get the most out of myself most of the time but when you're not striking it well and it's not finishing close to the hole it's hard to hard to compete out here you know I felt like all my all my shots finished 10 feet further away than they really should Al hey um have you ever made any changes heading into the playoffs when it comes to equipment or was it mainly just in Scotland I actually I actually have I did switch to another set of irons this week but that was always the intention I mean the the turf conditions in Scotland is very different than here so I kind of using the irons that work the best time for a couple more go to Sean next s is the trusted Guru is that Trevor or is this some Club sherper in England I don't know if I should call him a club sherper but uh yeah Liam McDougall works for titlist and uh you know I I think the thing I would say is we've always kind of he talks my language when it comes to technology and he has a good understanding of you know how how my game's evolved and what my game style is um I I think Trevor's a bit of a guru as well but when when it came down to um fitting this stuff it was with Liam in the UK and what's the basic gist of how the shafts are different um I I guess they're a different profile and uh and slightly different weight so you know what what they encourage or promote in the swing is a little different so you know if my Tendencies uh you know to go to the right and if the Sha's promoting more right then then you're in a bit of a fight you're going right and after a while you know you start fighting that and it can throw your swing off a little bit so it's kind of balancing it all out Signature Events we'll go to Doug and then Mitchell did you Adam did you take any um or did you sense any any stick last year for um having so many exemptions to the Signature Events this year this year yeah it feels like last year I mean I I think I had five of eight maybe um earlier in the year it seemed to get a bit of beat up in in the media and some guys were unhappy I guess that it seemed like the board members were getting the exemptions but I I just have the comment that that it's up to the tournament to there are exemptions there for the tournament they can invite who they like and uh you know like I I was not unhappy when I didn't get exemptions either you know that's that's the position you're in how much I mean how much would it be on your mind to push through to BMW for for what it no what it stands for for everyone that's incredibly important I mean I think if you ask anyone who was in that top 50 this year I think they can play a great schedule with great opportunity and and it's much easier to plan a schedule um even So speaking for me just the idea of of course I want to Peak perform at the players and the majors and if you know you're in event you can you can make it easier to uh you can make it easier to kind of work your schedule than if you play good in a swing and then get in another one you're adding events and of course you don't want to miss Signature Events if you get the opportunity to play them uh but just being in control of your schedule I think is the most important to if you're considering trying to challenge you know the for the big events and challenge for the FedEx Primary Swing Thought Cup we'll go to Mitchell unless you had one more Doug I did but I was going to wait on Mitchell just be okay Adam kind of along the same lines of equipment what is your primary swing thought right now um right now my primary swing thought I guess is um to kind of stay left arm connected off the ball and then secondly if you Xander and Scotty have both had successful years this year if you had to choose a year of theirs to have which one would you choose out of there too what do you value more and why ah it's a tough one I I'd pick Xander's year um because I'm interest uh you know I think two Mages is incredible um but if you picked me to vote on the player of the year today I'd probably vote for Scotty I I don't know if that even makes sense but it's it's a strange situation these guys two guys playing so well last one with Doug all right we had this conversation probably in about 056 when tiger was going at a quite significant level and it became a question for other players and I think you're probably among them whether you aspired to someday be number one in the world how hopeless does it seem do you get that sense at all that that Xander could be feeling that I mean a remarkable year and he's a million miles behind Scotty or kind of seeing that play out again it it might be a little early um you know to have that kind of direct comparison to what was going on back in' 05 I mean tiger had been at a clip for six years there I mean it's fair to say Scotty's been at a pretty good clip the last two years so he's well on his way it is remarkable what he's doing I don't think Xander should give up hope just yet though I think he's got it in him Adam thanks for the time okay thanks