Adam Scott insists his window for winning major championships remains wide open despite this week’s US PGA Championship being his last with an anchored long putter.
In fact, he believes he can keep improving for another five years, giving him another 20 majors at the top of his game.
Scott’s love affair with the broomstick will come full circle this week as the 2010 US PGA Championship – also at the Whistling Straits course in Wisconsin – was the last he played with a short putter.
His switch to the broomstick coincided with a big turnaround in form and he has been a model on consistency since.
In that period he has won the 2013 Masters and missed just one cut in 19 majors starts, including making the last 17 in a row, and otherwise chalking up 15 top-15s, 11 of which were top-10s, and seven of which were top-5s.
However he will be forced to change next year with his anchored putting stroke to be banned from January 1.
While 35-year-old Scott doesn’t see it as a last chance, he does see it as a chance to get a win he’s been craving, especially after another near-miss at the British Open and a poor result at the WGC-Bridgestone last week.
“It’s a big week. I have lifted my game for the last couple of majors and been right in the mix and I expect nothing less this week,” Scott said.
“I’m really not worried about the putter change in the future. I don’t have a fear at all of it being a bother whatsoever.
“I believe if I practise it a lot I will get really good at it.
“Look, it’s not like I hole everything every week with the long one either, I have been frustrated with that this year and the whole rule change is bizarre and unjustified to me, but it is what it is and I’ll do my best with whatever I come out with.”
Scott believes the three weeks earlier in 2015 when he used a short putter to be fourth at the WGC Cadillac at Doral, miss the cut in Tampa and finish 35th at Bay Hill, opened his eyes to what he needed to work on.
But he’s living in the now and ready to attack Whistling Straits.
Scott says he should be able to keep improving his golf at least until he is age 40.
“I see the game past 40 gets harder for everyone and while there are always exceptions I feel like I need to get all my best work done now,” he said.
“Fortunately I have just turned 35 so I have five years to have a good chance of improving my golf. I haven’t seen many in the game improve after 40.
“Five years, 20 majors, hopefully that’s a lot more chances if I keep doing what I am doing at the moment and that’s put myself in with a chance like I have the last two.
“This (Whistling Straits) course is pretty self explanatory, it is not that tricky, it just looks dramatic.
“If you play well, none of that really comes into play.
“It is a good driver’s golf course and it lets you hit the driver a fair bit and that sets up good for me so I am looking forward to it.”
The world No.11 joins world No.4 Jason Day, Steven Bowditch, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones, Brett Jones, Marc Leishman, Geoff Ogilvy and John Senden in the field.
