Scott's knee is hurting. So is his reputation
Adam Scott hasn’t made many mates on the Australian major circuit lately. Last week he withdrew from the Australian PGA after hurting his already gimpy knee while bodysurfing. This week, still ailing, he pulled out of the Australian Open, then told the press that he likely would have sucked it up and played had it been the U.S. Open and not the Down Under edition.
"Probably, yes, I would have," Scott said. "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).”
This news will go down with Australians like a warm pint of Fosters. Aussies are a deeply patriotic people, and many will take Scott’s admission as disrespectful if not flat-out treasonous. “A blow, a big blow,” is how Australian Open tournament director Trevor Herden described Scott’s decision.
“It's sad,” he said. “Unfortunately no one is going to see him down here this summer. It's just a shame."
More disturbing is the gravity of Scott’s injury, which last week Scott’s agent brushed off as a “very minor, little issue.” Scott, in fact, dislocated his kneecap and tore a ligament. “This is the sixth time I have done it to my knee,” he said in a conference call with the Aussie media yesterday.
"There is a lot of stuff going on in my knee already. I can't extend my leg properly to walk. If I spend five days walking incorrectly, it is going to take me two weeks to get out of that.
"All the muscles have shortened and weakened and deteriorated. The leg is not in great shape at the moment.”
Scott ascended to No. 3 in the world after a fifth place finish at Wachovia in May. A month later, at the U.S. Open, he played in a powerhouse grouping with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, though finished quietly with a T26. In his five PGA Tour starts since August, Scott missed two cuts and finished no better than T50. He has slipped to 16th in the world.
“It's been a frustrating year,” he said. “To be honest, my head was not on the golf course after June."
Posted by: WW | Mar 2, 2009 2:58:20 PM
Adam Scott is now a bad Soap Opera. Between problems with women and his repeated injuries body surfing he is demonstrating very poor judgement and lack of discipline. He needs to get it right or see his career fade away. Talent without focus usually results in disappointment...
Posted by: Ringo Demaret | Dec 13, 2008 4:20:46 AM
If you swing like Tiger, you're going to damage your knee like Tiger.
Posted by: NB | Dec 11, 2008 6:29:30 AM
This guy is the epitome of someone whos just out there chasing the cash and nothing more. He spends more time chasing business ventures instead of chasing a major...
Posted by: Steven | Dec 10, 2008 6:38:24 PM
Scott apparently had recurring bouts of tonsilitis or something through the year which kept him quiet for the second half of the season.
However his withdrawals over the last couple of weeks show that he doesn't have the toughness to become a great golfer, just a good and very well paid one.
Love or hate Tiger, he played through a fractured leg to win the US Open.
Its a lesson many pro golfers like Scott should learn.
Posted by: Boone | Dec 10, 2008 6:32:33 PM
He appears that he has forgotten where he started his career and where his fellow countrymen supported him before he came to the U.S. for the big money, money isn't everything. Michigan, USA
Posted by: Bdawg | Dec 10, 2008 3:56:59 PM
I was a fan of AScott, but I have come to the conclusion he will never win a major or be No. 1. I just don't see it in him.
Posted by: Bill | Dec 10, 2008 1:49:15 PM
Blah Blah BLah Blah Blah
Posted by: Melissa | Dec 10, 2008 12:20:45 PM
So where was his head after June?? The golf season is a 12 month season...he didn't even start until Feb on the Euro Tour. He played 5 months of golf and gave up? He played lights out in Qatar...what changed? I know he broke his hand in England when it was slammed in a car door *cough*cough*...but there has to be more to the story! Journalists, please do your job and find out!