ADAM SCOTT is delighted with his performance with his new broomstick putter and believes it will be a big positive for him when he fronts at the 2011 US Masters in April.
“I think it’s going to be great for me,” Scott said in the midst of his impressive display at the WGC- Cadillac Championship in Miami on the weekend.
“It’s just more enjoyable to play golf feeling somewhat confident on putts from ten feet and in. It’s nice to see a ball rolling at the hole at a good speed. You know, I don’t feel like it’s that much of an effort for me to do it. So I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes at Augusta.”
Over recent years, it has often been an out and out pleasure to watch Scott’s outstanding ball striking tee to green but when he gets on the putting surface it can be excruciating. And that’s not just for the spectators.
The 30 year old Queenslander admitted that his short putting has made him at times feel like not playing golf.
Talking about how in the past couple of years how he usually won or was “right up there” if he putted well from 10 foot in, Scott said:
“But you know, my short putting was really ruining my good golf, and it was very frustrating to the point where, you know, I just didn’t really feel like playing because every round I played, most likely I would leave two or three out there and that adds up to a lot at the end of a week. It was hard to have a good week.”
Scott has been using the broomstick putter for just under a couple of months and can’t see a change in the foreseeable future.
“I decided the week before the (WGC-Accenture) Match Play that I was going to use it. I was comfortable enough, and I had spent the five weeks previous working on it. Yeah, I spent a fair bit of time hitting putts with it. But, you know, this is certainly giving me a new bit of life out there, and I’ve enjoyed the last three weeks (in tournaments) putting with it.”
“I think there’s definitely going to be a carryover effect in the long term, certainly free up the long game. It’s going to free up chipping and the bunker play; that you don’t have to feel like you have to hit every chip stiff to feel like you’re going to make par.”
“It was hard work trying to get it around and not leave yourself 6 feet. And when you’re trying not to leave yourself 5 or 6 feet, inevitably you’re going to leave yourself 5 or 6 feet five or six times a round. Now I can just play. I don’t really worry about anything. I just deal with what’s out there.”
Scott was in real contention for the Cadillac title and finished at T6 with putting stats much better than normal.
Scott had a quick response to golf media who asked if there were changes he had to make with the broomstick putter.
“Well, you’ve got to extend your arm a lot longer to get it out of the bag,” he joked.