Gary Woodland wins Texas Children’s Houston Open at 18-under, nearly four years after brain tumor surgery removed him from golf’s elite.
Tag: Adam Scott
Gary Woodland extends his lead to -15 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open while Nicolai Højgaard pressures with a course-record 62.
Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland holds three-shot lead at Texas Children’s Houston Open after remarkable comeback from brain surgery.
American golfer Gary Woodland, who recently returned from brain tumor surgery, takes commanding lead at Texas Children’s Houston Open with impressive -13 score.
Gary Woodland surges ahead at Texas Children’s Houston Open with a new iron setup. Min Woo Lee trails at -9 as the hunt intensifies.
Adam Scott extends his remarkable streak at The Players, adding to his historic 17th hole record with his 23rd career birdie at golf’s iconic par-3.
Relive the top moments from the final round of the 2026 Genesis Invitational featuring Scheffler, McIlroy, Scott and more.
The US Open takes place from the 13th to the 16th of June at the infamous Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. 156 players are invited to compete at the third major of this year after the Masters Tournament in April and the PGA Championship, which took place in May. The qualifying tournaments for the major took place last weekend, whereas Adam Scott’s major streak is in jeopardy.
US Open 2024 without Adam Scott?
As for the other majors, there are also various criteria for participation in the US Open. After Australian Adam Scott failed to qualify in advance, he took part in a qualifying tournament last weekend. In order to secure one of the starting places at the US Open, he ultimately had to compete in a playoff with Cameron Davis, which he lost in the end. As a result, he was unable to secure a place, which not only makes his participation in the tournament uncertain, but also jeopardizes his streak of major appearances, which is the longest active streak in professional golf.
After Davis gave him the chance to qualify in the playoff with a bogey finish in the qualifying tournament, Scott was unable to keep pace with Davis’ birdie on the third play-off hole. Earlier, Davis had countered a chip-in from Scott on the first playoff hole with an important and difficult putt to keep the playoff going. For Adam Scott, who has played in every major since the 2001 Open Championship, there is still a chance of a starting place at the US Open this year. The USGA has kept a total of six places open for players who qualify late via the World Golf Ranking.
Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson at every US Open at Pinehurst
In the other qualifying tournaments, a total of 687 players competed for 44 places in the upcoming Major. Among others, Matt Kuchar prevailed in Florida. Together with Phil Mickelson, the two will be the only players to have taken part in every US Open held at Pinehurst (1999, 2005, 2014).
The tournaments were rather mixed for the players in the LIV Golf League, of which a total of 17 players competed. Only two of them, Dean Burmester and David Puig, came out on top. Joaquin Niemann was unfortunate to miss out with a double bogey shortly before the end of his final round.
The 35-year-old American Justin Lower’s first participation in the US Open is a matter close to his heart, as he became emotional in an interview after his qualification. “The Sunday of the US Open usually falls on Father’s Day and I lost my dad when I was 15. Just to be able to play on that day in the US Open will be really cool.”
2004 Players Championship winner Adam Scott speaks with the media prior to making his 19th consecutive start at the event about how his game has changed as he ages.
PGA Tour: Adam Scott previews 19th start at the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass
SHARON SHIN: We would like to welcome Adam Scott, the 2004 PLAYERS champion. You’re making your 19th consecutive start at this event. How does it feel to be back?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I love coming here. It’s like I talk about every year, it’s where my career really got going, I guess all those years ago and it’s been fun coming back ever since. I feel like I’ve really been welcomed here in this community and supported really well on the golf course. I played some good rounds over the years here and enjoyed some good results, however, not winning a second one, this year again that’s my goal going out there and I feel like my game is ready for that challenge this week.
SHARON SHIN: And already a win under your belt this season with a victory at the Genesis Invitational. How is your game feeling entering this week?
ADAM SCOTT: It’s good, even though that I missed the cut last week, I had a bit of a bad front nine at Arnold Palmer, which is disappointing. However, the silver lining may be that I didn’t have to deal with that golf course over the weekend, which looked quite brutal and my mind is in a good place because of that. But I feel very comfortable with where my game’s at. I think the lesson learned out of last week was I need to just make sure I’m prepared teeing off tomorrow and not have that kind of slow start to take away from the level where my game is and put myself back in with a chance to win a big tournament this week.
SHARON SHIN: We’ll open it up for questions.
Q. We have got a question from a fan in China. How do you adjust yourself to the pressure in competition and take your championship experience back in 2014 as an example?
ADAM SCOTT: I think everything comes from preparation and if you prepare properly then eventually with some experience you understand how you respond to pressure situations, and whether it’s teeing off on Thursday of a tournament or coming down the stretch to win a tournament. But I find myself, and I’ve also heard from a lot of other athletes that they get all their confidence out of their of their preparation; all the work needs to be done before you’re meant to perform.
Q. Do you change the game plan much going into this tournament as opposed to another tournament, especially because of the Pete Dye golf course?
ADAM SCOTT: It’s very much the condition of the course dependent. Which we have seen over the years, if it plays soft this course can be quite good around here. But if it firms up it gets a little treacherous and can play really like the other Florida tournaments can. So at the moment it’s a little soft, and although it firmed up a little bit today, it looks like you’re going to have to show a little bit of patience out there this week. The greens just got a little firmer today and the rough is significant enough to not make it easy to hit greens out of the rough and balls can roll through and the speeds of the greens make chipping difficult. So ball striking this week will certainly help. It’s playing a little longer than we have seen in May, as well, with the softness of the fairways. So it really turned into a wedge golf course. I felt like as I got used to it in May, and it was because of this tournament that I ended up putting four wedges in my golf bag for the first time, I don’t know, three or four years ago. But I think there’s a bit less of that this year, even with drivers off tees, the ball is, for me, not getting down to that kind of wedge area and I’ve hit a lot more 9-, 8-, 7-, 6-, 5-irons into greens than I can remember for the last 10 years.
Q. There’s a lot of trees on this golf course, of all the places where you face a shot with a tree or trees, which one grabs your attention the most?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think the second hole, the trees up the left of the second are pretty much right where you want to flight the ball, you want to hug that left side and the trees are in the way so you have to go around. There have been a few, the one on No. 6 is gone now, that used to overhang the tee box. I never really thought I could hit it into it but you never know. It was getting a bit lower the last few years.
Q. David Duval and Justin Leonard were talking about the strategy of Pete Dye’s design around this course and Justin was talking about the 16th hole as an example where you need to draw off the tee and then hit a fade for your second shot. Do you think the move back from May to March enhances the need to play it strategically versus just blast over the trouble?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think it will work out that way because the ball just doesn’t seem to be running like it was in May. Drives are really not running at all. Therefore, some of the holes like 14 off the tee and 16 off the tee, the ball doesn’t run down near any of the trouble, but it’s leaving us much longer second shots, which is more difficult. I think it is a course of strategy because everyone kind of plays to similar spots. I don’t think you can overpower the course, however — and I don’t think you can play out of the rough all week and do well. But now I don’t think you can really overpower this golf course. It would be difficult to drive it in those spots now.
So I think it is a good strategic golf course, I really do. I think that’s why we don’t see repeat winners and it’s really open to whoever can play well. I don’t think it favors long hitters, I don’t think it favors just a short game, I think it tests all areas of the game.
Q. Post your Genesis win, do you still keep the same clubs in the bag? Have you changed anything since that win at Riviera?
ADAM SCOTT: I haven’t, no.
Q. And if not, is there a sentimental reason for that or is it sort of like the fact that you’ve got the winning clubs in the bag or is it just you’re not a sort of club changer?
ADAM SCOTT: I generally am not a club changer. I try and stick with what’s working as long as I can. There’s so many changes all the time; if you can not change something it’s quite good to not have to factor in anything else.
Q. It seems like there’s an interesting competition going on on TOUR at the moment between the younger guys winning, you guys winning, the more experienced guys, and would you say it’s one of the most interesting times during your career to compete on the PGA TOUR at the moment?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I guess so. I mean for me anyway it’s an interesting time for me to compete. I feel like I have a great opportunity at the moment to achieve some of the things that I have set out to do. Coming off the back of not necessarily last year but the year before not playing as well as I hoped when these opportunities present themselves you want to take advantage of them. So I’m excited for that. I think I’m not really trying to prove that I can beat any of the young guys, but I think some of the old guys still have it out here (Laughing.)
Q. How would you say your game’s evolved at 39 compared to in your 20s? Do you play — what was your ratio to power to precision then and has that ratio changed?
ADAM SCOTT: I think — sorry, I just don’t know exactly how to answer. I think I’m a better player now. I think everyone’s become better. I think the power is easier to achieve now. I think the precision is more difficult to achieve now. I don’t know that I can say I was more precise back then, but in the overall balance maybe I was. But I was hitting it probably a little shorter too. Which would make sense that I’m more accurate hitting it shorter.
Q. Has there been any changes since you are older in terms of physical capabilities or have you adjusted in that regard or are you just as capable?
ADAM SCOTT: I think I’m just as capable physically, I mean, I’ve been fairly fortunate, I haven’t really had injury setbacks or anything bothering me from playing golf and I’ve always been conscious of keeping my body in a good spot and I’ve worked with good people on that. So I feel physically I’m very capable of playing top-level golf right now.
Q. Your swing has long been a model for juniors and anyone, really. I’m wondering, with the plethora of information available now in terms of TrackMan and all these biomechanics and plate things, how much do you use that stuff or are you more of a, do you prefer to just kind of go on feel, do you watch your swing on video, just curious about your process.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I use TrackMan infrequently. I don’t use it much at all. I don’t know the last time I used it. And I got in the habit of watching my swing on video, which isn’t good because even though it the swing can be good you can nitpick every swing, I mean the perfect swing pretty much doesn’t exist. And even when I’m swinging good I could see something and try and then go and work on it. So basically I haven’t seen my swing this year at all and so a lot of it is based off feel. I trust my coach that he’s telling me the swing is looking in a good spot and he then, I just find my own feels to play golf and that keeps the freedom and kind of the natural talent I have for playing as open as possible to come out on the course and that’s kind of my process. There are times to reference off TrackMan and all the other information, but at this point I don’t think there’s many secrets I’m going to find from it. I know my game fairly well and I’m fairly honest with myself about how the ball flight is.
Q. You mentioned about your goals for this year. Can you share a little bit more about that and what of the next three majors would you most want to add to your resume?
ADAM SCOTT: Winning tournaments is always my goal and of course we put a huge focus on the majors. And then I think we all have other specific tournaments we really like. For example, this one, it’s a big event and this is my main focus right now. Of course I would love to win any of the other majors later this year. My goal is to keep my game in a spot where that’s realistic. But I’ve got off to a good start by winning the Genesis a few weeks back and I would like to add to that. Now I’m in this position where I’ve won again I would like to get myself back quickly in that position and see if I can add to that tally this year.
SHARON SHIN: Adam, do you have time for a couple more?
ADAM SCOTT: No, I’m sorry, my table is ready at Chili’s.
March 11, 2020
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
PGA Tour professional and speaks with the media about his past history at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, current state of his game and Master’s preparations.
PGA Tour: Adam Scott Addresses media prior to start of 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational
OHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Adam Scott to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Making his 11th start. Adam, a couple third place finishes here. Just talk a little bit about Bay Hill and this tournament and what it means to you.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I’ve come here on and off throughout the years, but it’s a course I’ve really learned to love, I guess, the last 10 years or so for me. I feel like I’ve played a lot of good golf here. I’m confident around this golf course. Unfortunately, I’ve never really put four solid days together in one go. So that’s my goal this week. It’s a special place, obviously, with the Arnold Palmer connection. It’s very strong. You can see that with everything going on here, but also through all the players. Here’s a guy who meant so much to the game of golf. To win an invitational-style event connected to Arnold Palmer would be really quite satisfying, I guess, for me in my career. I would rank it fairly highly.
JOHN BUSH: Speaking of good golf, you’re in really good form right now. 14th official TOUR win at the Genesis Invitational. Just talk a little bit about the state of your game.
ADAM SCOTT: My game feels really good, actually. I like where it is after today. I feel like it’s still moving in the right direction after Genesis. Mexico was not my best performance. I’m pretty much thinking I’m one of the worst altitude players on the TOUR after that. I really don’t get very comfortable at altitude. But I feel good about where the game is moving on from Mexico back to a bit closer to sea level here and feeling very confident. I like the way the course is set up this week. I believe it’s going to be windy and hopefully my ball striking can get me a little bit of an advantage in these kind of conditions.
JOHN BUSH: Open it up with questions.
Q. You share the course record here with Greg Norman. You got guys like Marc Leishman and Jason Day have won. What is it about Australian golfers that seem to thrive on this golf course?
ADAM SCOTT: I don’t know, really. There isn’t anything particularly similar or that different than home, really. It’s just, I think there’s, with the connection to Arnold Palmer there’s extra motivation for everyone to do well here. I think that was the case in Greg Norman’s day when he was playing here as well. It’s neat to have the course record here. I remember the round well. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible to attack this week. The greens are pretty firm out there and the wind’s going to blow, so breaking par would be more kind of my scoring goals this week.
Q. And just to follow it up, what are your first, what are your thoughts on the first two days? What do you need to sort of do to get yourself in position for the week and is it a matter of surviving the first two rounds and maybe posting something under par?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it might be good to be out Thursday morning potentially, given the weather. And if I can take advantage of that and have a solid score, it can set me up for a good week. But no matter what, even if that is the way it goes, there’s going to be some survival going on. By the looks, it’s going to blow pretty strong and out of a difficult direction for this golf course. A lot of the holes that are flanked by water, the wind is going to be coming off the water, so you’re going to have to start it over the trouble, essentially, and the ball striking will have to shine through a little bit.
Q. You talked about the state of your game is very good and you’re pleased with it, but what does it do for your game going into the Majors when you win early in the season like you did?
ADAM SCOTT: In some ways it takes the pressure off, from the sense you don’t have to talk yourself into being confident. You can actually be confident because of a result. And then you must manage your own expectation after that. So hopefully, given that I have got a bit of experience, I can do that well from this point on. But I’m really enjoying the way my form is going, so I’m excited to play again this week and get myself back in that kind of position I was at in Genesis. That’s really my, the challenge to myself for the next three days out here is put myself in the winning position Sunday again. And I think my game is definitely still there and the confidence is still riding high, so I’ll try and take advantage of that while I’ve got it.
Q. How does this tournament, tournaments like this help you prepare for the Masters?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it’s a very important part of the preparation because it’s so close. So it’s very hard not to think about the Masters. Of course, we have the PLAYERS championship next week. But this golf course, the way it is this week with the rough is up a little bit and the greens are firm, it’s — and the wind is predicted, it’s going to be testing everyone’s patience, very demanding golf course, which is what major championships do. They really penalize bad shots and this course will do that often because of the water. There’s really no escape from water. So it will be good to kind of get a, get your emotions under control and be able to use that to your advantage maybe at the Masters in a few weeks.
Q. At Riviera you seemed quite positive about the Premier League concept and what it could offer. Obviously since then, Rory’s come out and been very outspoken. There’s been a lot of other chat about it. Has your sentiment changed in any way or been endorsed or what do you think now, a few weeks on?
ADAM SCOTT: I’m still very positive about the concept of what it could be, for sure. It doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen, necessarily. Everyone sees it from somewhat of their own agenda. Being an international player, I mean, the thought of a world TOUR sounds really great. Maybe less so for someone based in Florida who doesn’t have to necessarily travel as much. But it’s what I’m used to. So, yeah, I don’t think my sentiment on the concept has changed at all. I still think it’s fantastic.
Q. Talking about the Masters, how has your preparation changed over the years? When do you start thinking about getting ready for Augusta now, versus maybe 10 years ago?
ADAM SCOTT: I think it’s changed a little bit, to be perfectly honest, because TPC is back in before it and I regard that tournament very highly. So really, I’m trying to get myself in great shape for that. And if I can do that, it’s like a small step to getting ready for Augusta. So until last year the focus on Augusta was kind of starting from Riviera. And at the moment I’m trying to put that out of my head and think about TPC as much as anything and get myself ready to have a really good run there. I mean, for me, it’s a tournament I would love to win again. I think it would go a long way in kind of getting me satisfied with what I’ve achieved in my career. If I could win the TPC twice, that would be amazing. Then it’s a quick shift now then to Augusta. We have got a little bit of time. But I think between what I see here this week and TPC next week, you should have a good idea of where your game’s at and what you need to do to be ready to play the Masters.
Q. Were you still at Augusta last year when Tiger finished? And if so, did you watch it on TV? Did you — what was your, what was sort of your reaction to the reaction?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, just as I was finishing my round you got a sense, as he was kind of taking the lead on the back nine, that something special could be happening. There’s always an electricity in the air at Augusta on a Sunday, but then when Tiger or certain people are in the mix there’s something more. After I finished out and I stayed and watched, there was a lot of guys watching in the champion’s locker room and I stayed and watched. You don’t often get that group of people together very often. All of us definitely cheering hard for Tiger to win. And you just had that sense it’s a significant moment in the sport again. But seeing Tiger’s reaction was great because it felt like a significant moment for a guy who is achieved everything and more in golf and you could see in his reaction to the win how special it was. So that was — it was great as a golf fan to watch that.
Q. How do you think Tiger’s decision to go without a coach and kind of go it on his own the last few years helped him get back in the winner’s circle and win another major?
ADAM SCOTT: How do I think it helped him?
Q. Yeah.
ADAM SCOTT: I really don’t know how to answer. Maybe it just uncomplicated things for him, really. I mean, we all do our best to complicate the game a bit too much and maybe when you’re as talented and as accomplished as Tiger, your gut instinct must be pretty good for what you need to do, so maybe he did that. I don’t know. That’s a guess (Laughing.)
Q. This and Riviera are two of the strongest fields of the year thus far that don’t have built-in fields, for example. What is the difference between something like this, something like the Memorial and Riviera, compared with a WGC?
ADAM SCOTT: A few faces in the draw? I don’t know.
Q. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think it’s a good thing that these events are strong, these invitational events. They should mean something. And I think that was the idea with the World Golf Championships. But they have certainly changed over the 20 years that they have been around and gone in a, gone in whatever direction they have gone in, not quite necessarily — I guess they get the best players from all around the world together, but there’s been some levels of compromise, I guess, with them on locations and venues and timings and all these kind of things, and even the Match Play has been moved around and gets fields, it doesn’t get fields, but that’s most tournaments. Even though this is a very, very strong event there are a couple guys not playing. Most do. I think a lot of that is out of the respect for Arnold Palmer, of course. The venue at Riviera and Tiger’s involvement also commands a strong field. So I think they sit up in that similar kind of level, given the fact they are pulling strong fields.
Q. But you’ve missed some WGC’s over the years based on your own scheduling preferences. Was there a time early days where it was thought that these are ones you just don’t miss?
ADAM SCOTT: Absolutely, yeah. They have gone along, they have, I guess when they — there are many factors that are different than 20 years ago when they started. The PGA TOUR had far less international events 20 years ago, they have a lot more now. It was much harder to get the world’s top players together. Most of the world’s top players play on the PGA TOUR as a PGA TOUR member now. They were significantly more money. Now everything is a lot of money. I don’t think they are doing the same as what they did 15 or 20 years ago, that’s for sure.
Q. When on his game who is the just toughest guy out here to match shot for shot and keep up with?
ADAM SCOTT: To pick one guy?
Q. Yeah. One.
ADAM SCOTT: Well, Tiger then (Laughing) on his game. I mean, his record speaks for itself. I mean, I love Rory’s game and I love Dustin’s game as well. I think on their day those guys would be very, very difficult to beat when, if they’re on their game.
JOHN BUSH: All right. Adam Scott, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
ADAM SCOTT: Thank you.
Orlando, Florida
March 4, 2020
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports