LAS VEGAS – If anyone would have had an inkling that Tiger Woods was going to win the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots, it was probably Adam Scott.
Speaking Wednesday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Scott spent time reflecting on his brief college career at UNLV and how that worked to shape him as a young man.
Since he was reminiscing, Scott was asked about a match he played as a 19-year-old against Woods, who was about to win the next four majors in a row and rattle off the greatest year of golf anyone has ever produced.
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Scott was working with swing coach Butch Harmon shortly after turning pro, and Woods was stopping by Rio Secco on his way to Pebble Beach.
“It was the Sunday before the week of the U.S. Open,” Scott said.
“He closed me out on the 14th, but he double bogeyed the 9th for 63, and I was a bit blown away by what I saw. It was quite windy, and I thought I played quite well. Probably shot about even par and I was nine off the pace. I made probably a throwaway comment to Butch, something like, ‘Maybe I should reconsider turning pro?’
“The only thing that made me feel good was he won the U.S. Open by 15 the next week, so I was quite happy to see that no one else really played like that.”
Undeterred, Scott would go to win four times on the European Tour over the next three years before becoming a force on the PGA Tour with wins at the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship and 2004 Players Championship.