Adam Scott's Final Masters Round

[David_Tepper]

Adam Scott goes thru yesterday's round, citing the clubs he hit on each hole. Driver, wedge on #9, 3-wood, 9-iron on #10 and driver, 9-iron on #11. Yipes!

CRAIG HEATLEY:  Adam, could you please just go through the clubs you hit into 1 through 18.
ADAM SCOTT:  Yes.  I hit a driver off 1 and it went left.  I had to punch a 6‑iron from about 145 yards, chip and run a 7‑iron and 2‑putt for bogey.
2, I hit a 3‑wood in the right rough.  I laid up with a 6‑iron, hit a lob‑wedge on the fringe and 2‑putted for par.
3, I hit a driver down in front of the green and pitched up with a lob‑wedge from 40 yards to 20‑something feet and made it for birdie.
4, I hit a 5‑iron onto 25 feet and 2‑putted for par.
5, I hit a 3‑wood, 7‑iron to about ten or 12 feet and 2‑putted for par.
6, I hit a 7‑iron onto 50 feet and 2‑putted for par.
7, I hit a 3‑wood and a 9‑iron just short and chipped with a sand wedge to a couple feet and 1‑putted.
8, I hit a driver, 2‑iron on the green, and 3‑putted for par.
9, I hit a driver, wedge to ten feet and 2‑putted for par.
10, I hit a 3‑wood, 9‑iron to 30‑something feet and 2‑putted for par.
11, I hit a driver and a 9‑iron to 20 feet and 2‑putted for par.
12, I hit a 9‑iron to 25 feet and 2‑putted for par.
13, I hit a driver and a 7‑iron.  I chipped with a sand wedge from the bank to a couple feet and 1‑putted.
14, I hit a driver and a wedge to 15 feet and 2‑putted for par.
15, I hit driver, 4‑iron to 25 feet maybe, 20‑something feet, and 2‑putted for birdie.
16, I hit a 7‑iron to 20 feet and 2‑putted for par.
17, I hit a driver, 9‑iron, I don't know how far that was, 25 feet maybe, 30 feet, 25 feet and 2‑putted for par.
18, I hit a driver, 8‑iron to 25 feet and made it.
Playoff holes.  What happened?
CRAIG HEATLEY:  You putted well.
ADAM SCOTT:  Yeah, putted well.  Driver, 7‑iron, short, chipped up and short putt.
Then it was 3‑wood, 6‑iron into the 10th to 12, 15 feet.
CRAIG HEATLEY:  Our 2013 Masters Champion, Adam Scott.  Congratulations, Adam.

[Jason Topp]

That is quite a ball-striking round. 16 greens with two par fives in 2 so 36 shots to get on the greens.  He had 33 putts and shot 69.

It looks like 7 iron was his longest club on a par 4 (other than the punch out on 1).  When using driver his longest approach club was an 8 iron on 18.  I am not sure how strong his lofts are.  Nevertheless, it is pretty impressive on a day that was 57 degrees and raining with fairways cut so that the grain runs back towards the tee. 

Imagine what he would have had into the greens on an 85 degree dry day!  Maybe they need to lengthen again.  I'm not sure they have room.

[Bill Seitz]

So the only time he more than a 7 iron into a green was on six and on the par fives.  But certainly there's nothing wrong with the ball.

That's not entirely fair to Scott, though. I doubt any of the rest of the contending field was much different. Doesn't excuse that damn broomstick though.

[Bill Shotzbarger]

He said he hit a 6 iron into 10 in the playoff

[Mike Benham]

It looks like 7 iron was his longest club on a par 4 (other than the punch out on 1).  When using driver his longest approach club was an 8 iron on 18.  I am not sure how strong his lofts are.

His lofts are 1 degree weak ...

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/whats-in-my-bag/2011-11/photo-adam-scott#slide=13

[Alex Miller]

It looks like 7 iron was his longest club on a par 4 (other than the punch out on 1).  When using driver his longest approach club was an 8 iron on 18.  I am not sure how strong his lofts are.

His lofts are 1 degree weak ...

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/whats-in-my-bag/2011-11/photo-adam-scott#slide=13

That's still 1-2 degrees strong compared to 30 years ago, right? In any case, he is great ballstriker and hits the ball a ton.

[David_Elvins]

I was pretty alarmed at some of the clubs he was hitting into some of those holes in those conditions but it is worth remembering that he was obviously at the top of his game.  Perhaps on another day he is not quite striking it as well and hitting longer clubs?

[Brett_Morrissy]

Is there such a thing as a "Unique Masters Win" hangover - I think that is what is wrong with me today !

can't focus, can't get the smile off my face, can't stop reading tweets, blogs, news articles - geez, I am even watching golf channel video online...it is a spectacular result for both Adam and Australia.
"C'mon Aussie!!!"

[Brent Hutto]

Would a typical PGA Tour player recall every shot and distance like that after a round?

[David_Elvins]

Would a typical PGA Tour player recall every shot and distance like that after a round?

I would imagine they would be no different to the typical member you meet at the bar after your round...

[Terry Lavin]

Would a typical PGA Tour player recall every shot and distance like that after a round?

I would imagine they would be no different to the typical member you meet at the bar after your round...

I resemble that remark! 

[Bill_McBride]

Would a typical PGA Tour player recall every shot and distance like that after a round?

I would imagine they would be no different to the typical member you meet at the bar after your round...

Great line by Peter Jacobson when a member started to give him a hole by hole:  "Hold on there, partner, if we're going all 18 I'm going to have to get a cart!"

[BCrosby]

6500 yds is to 230 yds (circa 1930) as 8200 yds is to 290 yds (2012).

The clubs Scott used on Sunday at the Masters is further evidence of the problem that's been obvious for a decade or more. ANGC at 7400 yds is, as Scott proved, a very short course for him and the majority of his cohorts. And that was on a rain drenched afternoon in which drives were not rolling out to their normal distances.

Bob

[David Stewart]

Does it matter how short it is? The greens still protect par and make you place your ball in the proper spots regardless of how short of a club you have. Other than the par 5s, Scott didn't have a birdie putt inside ten feet. And that was with short clubs and rain softened greens. Typically in those conditions these guys are throwing darts in there.

Back to Scott's play, it was obviously an amazing ball striking round. He had to punch on #1 and was just off and short of the green on #7 (a good spot anyway). He essentially didn't miss an iron all day. Amazing. He made two clutch putts in the last three holes, but that broomstick still let him down, as it did at Lytham last year. He should have been able to stroll up 18 with a comfortable lead. If he can get the putter figured out he will be a top contender in majors for the next ten years.

[Josh Tarble]

Does it matter how short it is? The greens still protect par and make you place your ball in the proper spots regardless of how short of a club you have. Other than the par 5s, Scott didn't have a birdie putt inside ten feet. And that was with short clubs and rain softened greens. Typically in those conditions these guys are throwing darts in there.

That's kind of what I was thinking as well...sure he was hitting some short club into greens, but still only shot 69 and the best round of the day was a 67.

Also, when they showed his celebration...Adam Scott is JACKED...he has to be a little bit of an outlier.  I'm sure not by much, but I know Brandt Snedeker hit a hybrid into Ray's Creek on Sunday.  Still though, it is absurd what irons they're hitting.

[Brent Hutto]

How many GIR did Adam Scott hit on the week while shooting -9 on soft greens? In the exceptional case of Augusta National I think bemoaning his 7-iron and wedge approaches is misplaced. Yes even a wet-fairway 7,400 yards is very short of an Adam Scott level player. But Augusta National defends itself very nicely, thank you, even when being "too short" and even with some of the greens are less menacing than on a very dry week.

That said, one valid potential complaint is that not every course can be Augusta National. My own club has pretty tricky greens and we can tuck the pins, roll them, yada, yada. But our course at 7,400 would be a pushover for Adam Scott. Absent the type of architectural, setup and maintenance quality available at ANGC the general case for 7,400 yards being "too short" for elite players may be justified.

In a sense, Augusta and potentially Merion might be thought of as the proverbial "exception that proves the rule". By "proves" I mean tests, as in "Just how perfectly designed, constructed and maintained do green complexes have to be in order to provide a fair test to PGA Tour players in 2013?"...

[BCrosby]

On a 7400 yd course in pouring rain, the longest club Scott hit into a par 4 was a 7i on the 5th. It would have been a shorter club on the 5th if he had hit driver from the tee. All other approaches to par 4's were with shorter irons.

By any measure that is astounding. It should also be very troubling. 

Bob   

[Rich Goodale]

Agree completely, Bob.

[Jason Thurman]

What part of his game wasn't tested?

He hit every club in his bag except 3-iron.

[Matthew Petersen]

Yeah, this doesn't bother me. It bothers me when guys don't ever hit anything but wedges all day. Adam Scott probably hits his 7-iron 180 yards, even in soft and rainy conditions. If he can do that, so what? As others have pointed out, -9 for the week still won, even after -6 led after day 1. That course is no pushover.

[Tom_Doak]

Adam Scott is a pretty long hitter.  I remarked after walking with the four players at the Kiwi Challenge down at Cape Kidnappers a few years ago that while all of them [Snedeker, Kim, Mahan and Scott] were long and straight drivers, Adam was 20 yards longer when he wanted to be.  He was driving it anywhere from 300-370 yards, including roll-out, at Cape Kidnappers.

If you want to see him hit more than a 7-iron approach, there had better be a strong headwind, or the hole isn't going to be labeled a par-4 under the current limit of 500 yards.

[Carl Nichols]

What I'm about to say is not an argument that there isn't a problem with equipment and distance.  But Adam Scott seems like someone who has absolutely maximized the positive effects of strength and fitness [he looks even fitter than Tiger to me], and given how focused he appears to be on that, I would also assume that he's done everything he can to maximize the positive effects of club fitting, launch monitors, and related equipment optimization.  It seems pretty hard to isolate the effects of those efforts from the overall equipment questions.  

[Jim Nugent]

Of the players who made the cut, Scott was 18th in driving distance, with an average of 293.75 yards over the four rounds.  That last round he averaged 288.  

I wonder which holes they measure drives on?  Wouldn't think 288 yard drives would leave so many wedge/9 iron shots at ANGC.  

[Alex Miller]

What I'm about to say is not an argument that there isn't a problem with equipment and distance.  But Adam Scott seems like someone who has absolutely maximized the positive effects of strength and fitness [he looks even fitter than Tiger to me], and given how focused he appears to be on that, I would also assume that he's done everything he can to maximize the positive effects of club fitting, launch monitors, and related equipment optimization.  It seems pretty hard to isolate the effects of those efforts from the overall equipment questions.  

Not to mention that all those things combine with a technically brilliant swing, amazing flexibility (in a class with Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods), quick hip roation, and impeccable balance.

[David_Tepper]

While I am surprised with the distances Scott is hitting the ball and the clubs he is hitting into the par-4's, I am not especially bothered about it. These guys are competing with and against each other on a, more or less, equal playing field. They are all in a position to reap the benefits of better clubs, balls, agronomy, fitness regimens, etc. The fact that no one was able to get to double-digits under par, on a par-72 course no less, says the course held its own quite well.