The Golf Watch

John Daly and Adam Scott drama in Australia

Let's start with JD.  According to John Coomber in a story posted on Fox Sports, Daly was already having a rough day at the Australian Masters when he approached his final hole of the day, the 9th hole.  He pushed his tee shot and had just walked up to his ball when a spectator took a number of pictures of him.  Daly consequently took the patron's camera and threw it against a tree, shattering it to pieces.  Coomber writes:

After snatching the camera, Daly stalked up to the nearest tree and hurled it with all his force into the trunk.

"You want it back, I'll buy you a new one," Daly said to the fan.

As Daly completed the hole, Clegg, a 15-handicapper from Sydney club Ashlar, was left to pick up the pieces - literally.

Clegg, who had taken a leave day especially to see Daly play, said it was a disappointing way to finish the day.

"It hasn't ended well," he said.

Asked if he would be seeking compensation, Clegg said: "I don't think I'll be chasing him for the money. He's a big bloke."

First off, if you want to know what bloke means, urban dictionary defines it as a british slang term for a 'man's man.'  Secondly, what was a spectator doing with a camera on a tournament day?

Apparently, the tournament director addressed this and said the spectator 'breached the conditions of entry.'  The heaving of the camera is no excuse, but the spectator is to blame as well.

As for Adam Scott--let's just say the Australian golfing public isn't too happy with the former Players champ.  He has dropped out of the Australian Masters for the second straight year, this time, citing a knee injury that has beleaguered him for the past few months. Scott said in a teleconference that if it had been the US Open, he would have played.

This comes as a surprise to me, especially because Scott has never been one to stir up controversy.  Nevertheless, as Brent Read from The Australian writes:

The survival of the Australian tour, which has atrophied alarmingly over the past 15 years, hinges on Scott and other high-profile players returning each year. It was the same when Greg Norman was in his prime and the two-time British Open champion, a long-time supporter of Australian golf, was pilloried on occasion for failing to return home.

Scott, who opted not to play in the Australian Masters, injured his knee while at the beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast nearly two weeks ago. There had been whispers he would not be fit to play, but organisers say they were still shocked to receive a phone call yesterday morning informing them he would not be flying to Sydney.

They were even more stunned when, during a teleconference with media, Scott was asked whether he would have played had it been the US Open, as Tiger Woods did at Torrey Pines earlier this year when he won his 14th major with a serious knee problem which later required surgery.

"Probably, yes, I would have," Scott replied. "The reason I am not coming down to play is that I could hobble around this week and get it done, but I think that would set me back so far that I would not be able to start 2009 at the Mercedes (tournament).

Those are pretty powerful words.  Does playing on the PGA Tour full-time and the assimilation to American culture cause foreign-born golfers to forget their roots?  I believe this certainly holds true in some cases.

And as for the Mercedes, at least there will be one top-20 golfer on site this year. 

Scott swings, but doesn't shake normally

Adam Scott's golf swing looked so good today that it was almost as if nothing had happened three weeks ago to his little finger.  If it wasn't for his putter, he would be up there on the leaderboard with the likes of Streelman and Appleby. 

In order to protect the finger, Scott chose to shake hands with his left hand, rather than his right. 

Scott chooses to ice, rather than practice

Word out of Torrey Pines is that Adam Scott didn't practice today. Instead, he iced the little finger he injured three weeks ago.  The buzz around the media room might be about Tiger's knee, but Scott's hand has to be most suspect...

Scott breaks little finger

Brian Hewitt of The Golf Channel reports that Adam Scott broke the little finger on his right hand three weeks ago from the slamming of a car door. 

Hewitt's sources said that Scott didn't pick up a club until a few days ago.  But Scott's latest blog post on his website indicates that he arrived at Torrey Pines last week to practice.  Hewitt said that he played a round earlier today.

The U.S. Open has never been Scott's tournament, and this certainly doesn't help matters.  When Hewitt asked Butch Harmon for a word on the Aussie's status, Harmon said no comment.  When Butch doesn't want to talk, something has to be up...

Scott expects to win first major by 30

I don't know how he jumped so many spots with his win at the Byron Nelson, but Adam Scott is now ranked third in the world golf ranking.  Jim Rome interviewed Scott yesterday on ESPN's Jim Rome is Burning, and I found this to be an interesting statement from the Aussie...

Probably when I turned professional, I thought I would have had that major by now.  After a few years into it, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy.  We always dream big as kids, and then a little bit of reality sets in.  But I'm certainly pushing hard for it, and I fully expect myself to have one before I turn 30. 

That gives Scott two years to make it happen.  I would say it's a reasonable goal, however, Scott has performed so poorly at the majors.  When was the last time you heard Scott's name during the weekend at a major championship?  Besides the PGA in '06, never.

Scott, Sorenstam, Clarke wins make for a memorable Sunday

Looking at each tournament before Thursday's play began, nothing really stood out for me.  But after Adam Scott, Annika Sorenstam, and Darren Clarke captured the title at each of their respective events, there's plenty to talk about.

First, Adam Scott.  The guy shows flashes of brilliance, but also looks clueless on the greens at times.  This is why I still can't see him winning a major championship any time soon.  Bill Nichols' story from the Dallas Morning News can be read here.

Annika Sorenstam's win at the Stanford International Pro-Am reminded us that she is only 37 years old, and is still hungry.  It was only a year ago that Sorenstam was the talk of the tour.  It's nice to see that she can still intimidate her opponents the way she used to.  Read the final round wire wrap-up here.

Darren Clarke won the Asian Open yesterday by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole.  It had been awhile since we had seen Clarke fire a crowd up like that.  After all, his last win came in '03.  What a feel-good story.  The Reuters recap can be found here.

Scott expected to practice today

Adam Scott withdrew from the Shell Houston Open on Saturday due to a high fever and throat infection, and there was some concern in his camp that he would not be ready to play this week.  But Jason Sobel of ESPN.com interviewed Scott, and it seems that he is ready to go...

"I'm feeling better," said Scott, who is currently taking antibiotics. "I'm going to rest up, come out [Tuesday] and get back into tournament mode.

Scott back on track, wins Qatar Masters with final round 61

Adam Scott won the Qatar Masters yesterday with a final round 11-under 61.  This is significant because Scott won the tournament with strong putting, the weakest part of his game prior to this year.  Poor putting has been Scott's achilles heel and has held him back from winning major championships and competing with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on a consistent basis.  During the offseason, Scott worked closely with instructor Butch Harmon on his short game, and it looks like the hard work has paid off.  Scott birdied his first five holes on Sunday and was on the verge of shooting a 59 with birdie opportunities on 17 and 18.  Scott's 61 was his lowest round in competitive play and moves him up to fourth in the world golf ranking.

Scott might not play in US until Riviera

According to Brian Hewitt of The Golf Channel, Adam Scott might not play in the United States until mid-February at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera.  Hewitt said last night on Golf Central, "Adam Scott’s people are saying he probably won’t play in the states until Riviera in mid-February.  The reason they say for his Kapalua no-show is a heavy dose of international starts in January and February."  Scott pulled out of the Mercedes-Benz Championship earlier in the week.  Hewitt added that Scott has hired a new agent, a new PR person, and a new personal trainer.   

Scott falls under the radar this week at President's Cup

Despite being ranked sixth in the world, Adam Scott was not given much attention this week at the President's Cup.  Jeff Babineau of golfweek.com writes, "If there has been anybody more invisible than Adam Scott at this year's Presidents Cup, I haven't seen him. Scott is the sixth-ranked player in the world, but you wouldn't even know he's here."  Scott lost his first three matches of the week, but recovered by halving and winning his next two, including a win against Zach Johnson 2 & 1 earlier today.  Scott told Dottie Pepper of NBC Sports, "Well, it’s a disappointing week for us.  I felt that I played better every day…The U.S. played great throughout the week, and we left ourselves a lot to do today."