No tears shed for Scott's PC futility
New narrative is in Internationals' hands; What Alex learned? Latest Euro a-Rai-val
Adam Scott feels '“comfortable” with young teammates like Taylor Pendrith (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele answered the question succinctly, quickly and humorously.
“I don’t think any male out there feels bad for Adam Scott,” he said when asked if he had any sympathy for the Australian golfer as it relates to the Presidents Cup.
Scott is making his 11th consecutive appearance in the competition, dating to his first as a wide-eyed rookie in 2003 when he played in South Africa for captain Gary Player and was part of a riveting tie against a Jack Nicklaus-led American team.
Since that time, Scott, now 44, has played on nine straight losing International teams.
“I absolutely do not feel bad for Adam Scott. I like Adam Scott a lot, but I do not feel bad for him at all,” Schauffele said. “For me, I’m stubborn, and the more I get knocked down, the harder I push back up. If I had lost 10 times in a row, I’d come back champing at the bit even harder than ever. I’m sure that's what they’re doing.”
The oldest player in the field, Scott has accomplished a lot over the years, including a 2013 Masters victory, a stint at No. 1 in the world and numerous worldwide victories.
But he’s never won at the Presidents Cup, which has seen the U.S. dominate to the tune of 12-1-1. The lone loss came at Royal Melbourne in 1998, when Scott was a teenager.
Scott said that he doesn’t dwell on the defeats. He has an 18-25-6 match record in the competition.
“I think I made a conscious effort, maybe it was in Melbourne (in 2019) … it was kind of the old guard of the Presidents Cup Internationals stopped playing,” Scott said. “I stopped dwelling on that and really just started looking forward to these events, to the opportunity of winning and all the players on this team, maybe with the exception of me, are fresh.
“They are my inspiration for the Presidents Cup now. They are my motivation to do well. They have an opportunity, along with me this week, to win this event, and they might have the opportunity to win many of them.”
Scott points to close calls in South Korea and Australia in 2015 and 2019 and reasons to feel optimistic.
He also said there’s seen a change in direction since 2019 captain Ernie Els sought changes that would give the International side more autonomy.
“I think we are putting forward our strongest team for quite a while,” Scott said. “I think things have been moving in a positive direction for our team since Ernie (Els) took over as captain.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the shield. But that is something, and it’s becoming bigger and bigger, and there are guys like Min Woo (Lee) on this team who basically his golf life has been aiming to play for the International shield. Our team effort and dynamic has changed so much. The captains, the program the captains have put into place for us, they are kind of teeing everything up for us.
“I think a couple years ago was a tough, tough spot for us at Quail Hollow. A few guys who may have been on our team weren’t there, and the last few years, we’ve rebuilt and we’ve put together a formidable team.
“I think playing the United States is never easy, whether you’re the Internationals or Europe, but we can take inspiration from what Europe has managed to do with general on paper being the underdogs.
“We are determined to go out there this year and change the script of this event. Certainly I want to improve my record in this event, and I’m very determined. I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll get, if any. So this is a big week for me, but I have a lot of belief in this team. I can’t remember feeling so comfortable coming into a Presidents Cup.”
Thursday’s Matchups (all times EDT)
11:35 a.m. — Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau vs. Jason Day/Ben An
11:53 a.m. — Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala vs. Adam Scott/Min Woo Lee
12:11 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley vs. Sungjae Im/Tom Kim
12:29 p.m. — Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley vs. Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:47 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns vs. Hideki Matsuyama/Corey Conners
England’s Aaron Rai went for broke on the 72nd hole at Wentworth (Luke Walker/Getty Images)
What Alex learned: Rah, rah Rai
By Alex Miceli
Aaron Rai is the real deal. It would not be surprising if he was on the European Ryder Cup team that will play at Bethpage Black next year.
Just ask European captain Luke Donald.
“Seems to be in his own bubble a lot, kind of see a little bit of resemblance to me, when I was younger,” Donald said of Rai at last week’s BMW PGA Championship. “I think he’s a fantastic talent, and has a has a good chance, to try and make the team.”