C’mon, he’s got a green jacket!
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As if to prove himself worthy of the great sage’s faith, Scott has swept into the final stages of this weather-ravaged Open with an unruffled serenity, not even dropping a stroke during a faultless second-round 67 that showcased all his links talents of lag-putting, exquisite chipping and low, raking long-irons into a gathering gale.
Two more close calls since then have only made that chip on his shoulder even heavier.
“It was just so much fun to witness”. It was lucky that The Open was at St Andrews.
The top spot keeps eluding him, however, and that’s clearly a bone of contention for the 34-year-old from Adelaide.
“I probably carried that chip into the Masters and maybe it got a little bit smaller, but still I feel like I’ve been really close to lifting this trophy and I’m very motivated to do it this weekend now that I’m in this position”.
“I need to give myself a very special birthday gift one of these years”.
Scott’s willingness Friday to open up about his lingering disappointment was quite refreshing, and strikingly at odds with the stereotypical athlete who resists showing any signs of weakness or vulnerability.
New South Welshman Scott Arnold was impressive in his Open debut shooting 1-under the card which could have been two shots better except for the 14 hole presenting him with some troubles.
“I tried to brush it off and I did see all the positives”. ‘Any time you go bogey-free at a major it’s going to be a good round, and in these conditions it was really good, ‘ he said. It all came back to what I did down the stretch.
While the eulogies and encomiums have centred exclusively upon the departing Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, also a quintuple champion, has quietly anointed the self-effacing Scott as his choice to clasp the Claret Jug come tomorrow evening.
Then, it all fell apart.
There was no setting that illustrated his poise more vividly than the Road Hole. But the putt slipped by the left side of the cup, surrendering the championship to the Big Easy.
A year ago in the Open, Scott’s hopes were essentially doomed by a second-round 73 at Hoylake.
Scott is playing the Old Course this week alongside his old caddy Steve Williams, who has been lured out of retirement this summer.
“He helped take my game up to the levels it’s been along with my coach (Brad Malone) the last few years and a lot of hard work from all of us”, accepted Scott. I have to absolutely give him a lot of credit for that.
Rod Pampling and Scott odd are the last of the Aussie contingent on The Open leaderboard, rounds of 5-over 77 having them in a tie for 146 place and leaving them with plenty of work to do in the second round. There’s Johnson, who’s yet to win a major but insists he’s completely over that devastating three-putt that cost him the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay not even four weeks ago.
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When he gets to Sunday, he needs to use his past experiences as motivation to claim the Open title.
