Scott flirts with major history
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Adam Scott comments after Round 2 of the PGA Championship
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Adam Scott admits he would have laughed at the question had it been posed pre-tournament.
Did you think about a 62 out there?
This after all is the infamous Bethpage Black. A brute at 7,459 yards for the PGA Championship (although the actual yardage on Friday was 7,296 yards) with thick rough awaiting stray tee shots.
But Brooks Koepka opened the tournament with a 7-under 63 and claimed he left a few out there… allowing others to start thinking of the possibilities.
So when Scott drained four birdies in his opening five holes in the second round, paring the par-5 of all things, it appeared history might be in the making.
By the time he was through 14 holes, he was seven under on his round, knowing four pars would tie the PGA Championship record of 63. One birdie could bring a major championship record tying 62 – joining only Branden Grace who did so at the 2017 Open Championship.
And two birdies? Well no one has ever shot 61 in major championship history.
“It was a fleeting thought,” the former PLAYERS champion and 2013 Masters winner said.
“Leaving the 15th green… 16, 17, 18 today are actually very gettable with the tee up on 17.”
Scott had cleaned up a par on the par-4 15th with a lovely chip out of the rough that almost went in for birdie before hitting his approach into the par-4 16th right over the flag to 22-feet.
His birdie look was tracking, but pulled up just short.
A great shot into the par-3 17th left him with another look from the same distance and this time he gave it a run, but saw it dive low and go two-feet past.
When he missed the short come-backer and made bogey, the dream was over and the Australian would settle for a 6-under 64 to move into a tie for second place at 5-under.
“It was not happening at the end of the day, and in the end I was very happy to get it up-and-down for 64 on the last,” Scott said.
“Overall, you shoot 64 in a major, you've had a great day. It was a great start and managed to keep it going for a lot of the day.”
Scott missed five putts inside 10 feet during the round, three of which were inside seven feet and of course the two-footer on 17.
But he also made birdies from 25, 38 and 27 feet – racking up 165-feet, two-inches of putts in the round - the most in his PGA TOUR career.
The 38-year-old enters the weekend seven shots back of Koepka, the man he dueled with at the PGA Championship last season before settling for third place.
“There was lots of great stuff, which I had to do, and it looks like I'm going to have to do lots of great stuff over the weekend. But whether I'm six back, seven back or equal lead, to win a major, you're going to have to do some great stuff over the weekend,” the Australian who sits 39th in the FedExCup added.
“I've just got my head into a good place this week. I feel like my game's in a really great place. If I can get out of my own head a little bit and just play and swing, I think good results are there.”