MIAMI — A decade after his victory at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course, Adam Scott walked back onto the property at the Cadillac Championship and found a familiar truth waiting for him: This course still demands everything.

And this weekend, Scott delivered.

The 45-year-old Aussie surged toward the top of the final leaderboard with a clinical, composed weekend performance, posting back-to-back rounds of 66-64 to close at 14-under par over his final 36 holes – a stretch he knows doesn’t come easily on one of the PGA TOUR’s most exacting tests.

“That’s good playing around here, for sure,” Scott told CBS on Sunday, after posting back-to-back rounds of 6-under par or better for the first time since 2019 (in Rounds 2-3 of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday).

“Especially yesterday in the wind I played really, really nicely.”

On a course he described as having “a fine line between a great round and a disastrous one,” Scott never wavered. He played his final 36 holes without a bogey – just the second time in his career he’s gone bogey-free on a weekend on TOUR (and first since 2007) – and paired patience with precision to dismantle a layout that has undone more than a few players.

His Sunday round began with a reminder of just how locked in he was. Scott, playing his 46th career round at Doral, hit his first 12 greens in regulation – tying the record for most consecutive greens hit to open a round at the Blue Monster Course – and the experience showed.

But this wasn’t simply a case of familiarity. It was an adaptation.

Just two days earlier, Scott walked off the course frustrated, his putter betraying him to the tune of more than two strokes lost to the field. And this followed a 4-over 76 in the first round that included a penalty for hitting the wrong ball.

“I was so disheartened after Friday’s round,” he told CBS on Sunday. “My putting was just so bad. … I felt like I’m playing good and I’m just not getting anything out of it. So it's an incredible game because two days later, I feel really good about things sitting here talking with you.”

The turnaround came quickly – and subtly. Working with fellow Masters winner Trevor Immelman, Scott made a small adjustment that unlocked everything.

“He noticed a little something with my left elbow,” Scott explained. “It gave me something to focus on and probably improved my path and face and all the things that you need to do without really having to stress too much about it. So a few more went in. Thank you, Trev. It's a nice feeling, that's for sure.”

The results were immediate. Putts began to fall Saturday; confidence followed. That blend of patience and belief is something Scott has leaned into more as his career has evolved. Early in the week, he spoke about resisting the overload of modern data and returning to instinct.

“The biggest thing for me is leaning into my instinct and playing as much like a kid as I can,” he explained. “I think experience matters when it comes down to the end of the tournament, or if there are very unusual conditions during an event. But I feel like some of the knowledge and some of the information that we get, which is so much from so many areas now, is almost like holding me back from lifting the ceiling.

“It's like a safe space, playing within all this, with all this information, and I would like to kind of break free of that as much as I can and play with instinct and get myself into contention and then hopefully lean on that experience from there.”

He did exactly that.

Against a field increasingly populated by players half his age, Scott showed that experience – and execution – still matter. He acknowledged the growing depth of young talent on TOUR, noting early in the week: “The guys in their 20s are that much better, and there are a lot more of them, so it’s definitely getting tougher out here.” But at Doral, he met that challenge head-on.

Now, the timing couldn’t be more significant.

In two weeks, Scott is set to make his 99th consecutive major championship start at the PGA Championship, with the U.S. Open this June poised to mark No. 100 – a milestone reached only once before in the game’s history by none other than Jack Nicklaus.

Scott, characteristically, downplays the achievement.

“I don’t know what to make of it,” he said earlier this week. “Part of me doesn’t want to be the guy yet who just has all these other things that aren’t based around winning events. … I would rather win some stuff.”

Still, the durability required to reach that mark speaks to something deeper – consistency, preparation, and a body that has held up through decades at the highest level.

“I think I’ve had generally great advice around me from a physical and training standpoint that’s kept me healthy and pretty much injury-free,” he said. “My head’s still really in, like I should be able to compete and win these things, so maybe I don't see it as much of an accomplishment. But I guess if you ask someone who is at two majors, (100) seems like a long way away. I'll give myself a pat on the back, but I would love to still win.”

At Doral, that belief didn’t just sound good. It looked real.

He mastered the Blue Monster again, blending vintage ball-striking with renewed confidence on the greens. The result is a place firmly in contention, a reminder of his staying power, and perhaps most importantly, momentum at exactly the right time.

“I'm feeling good about all those things, it's all positive stuff,” he said about the looming majors. “To win a major I'm going to need to put four days together, not just a weekend coming from behind. I feel like my game is there. I'm doing all the things that I think I need to do to be in that kind of condition. So next week is important to keep this confidence going and hopefully arrive at the PGA full of confidence and four good days and you just never know.”

If this weekend was any indication, the ceiling he’s trying to lift might not be far away.