Four. That is how many cuts Adam Scott has made since March 16. Four cuts in 14 tournaments. That is also the number under par the Australian hunker shot on Thursday at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, forcing everyone to kindly look up at the leaderboard, shake our collective heads and sigh, "Should have known."
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See, Scott is the type of player that, even if it doesn't seem like it, responds to adversity fairly well. At the Players Championship in 2004, Scott was standing in the fairway of the menacing par-4 18th at TPC Sawgrass, with a two-shot lead over Padraig Harrington. An easy shot by professional standards, Scott yanked his mid-iron left into the pond, forcing the then 23-year-old to get up-and-down from short of the green to claim golf's fifth major. He did so, rolling in a ten-foot putt for the win.
Just like that '04 victory, Scott is currently facing a situation unknown to the Australian. By PGA Tour standards, Scott isn't what he once was. The next Tiger? He's just hoping to avoid being the Next Duval right now, and his first round at Atunyote Golf Club did just that.
Now the question lingers, can he keep it together? Just over a month ago, at the Wyndham Championship, Scott opened with a 66, but followed that up with a 75 to miss another cut. Now, at 4-under, is two shots back of the early leaders. He needed seven birdies on Thursday, tied for most in the field, and still made a big number (he double-bogeyed 13).
With a Presidents Cup invite in his pocket, the Australian is currently searching for anything to get his game rolling. If he can't find it, he will make fellow countryman Greg Norman look pretty homerific for choosing Scott over some better playing Internationals that could have improved the team. If the 68 turns into momentum, he might just make Norman look brilliant once more.
