DUBLIN, Ohio – Having slipped into a green jacket and ascended to world No. 1, it’s unlikely that a final round at the Memorial will be enough to stress out Adam Scott. But rest assured that there was once a time when the affable Aussie was shaking in his shoes.
Scott shot a third-round 66 at Muirfield Village to move into second place, two shots behind Martin Kaymer, as he looks to win for the first time in more than three years. But he shared that the only time in his career when he stressed about a potential victory came not at a major or even as a professional, but rather at a junior event when he was still in high school.
“It was the 1996 Gary Player Junior Classic, and it was a pretty big tournament in Queensland for juniors. You won a white jacket, which is weird because he was the Black Knight,” Scott said. “I’d given myself a 54-hole lead, and I was so concerned about the whole thing I just couldn’t sleep at all that night. I was awake all night, I couldn’t switch my head off.”
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Scott recalled that at age 16, the only sleep he got before the final round was during the hour-long drive from his home to the course.
“I slept in the car,” Scott said. “Somehow I played just good enough to win. And that was the only time I really, really struggled, I think, thinking about the next day.”
Since then he’s had a few long nights, notably before the final round of The Open in 2012 at Royal Lytham when he went on to blow a four-shot lead with four holes to play. But he bounced back to win the Masters months later, and doesn’t expect to resort to sleeping in his car before attempting to chase down Kaymer at Muirfield Village.
“The first time these things happen on a big stage, there’s a few more thoughts in your head,” he said.