MONTREAL – Adam Scott gazed at a painfully acquainted leaderboard perched simply left of the 12th inexperienced as a number of dozen followers lingered stoically. The U.S. Presidents Cup workforce was 10 minutes away from clinching its 13th victory within the occasion and there was nothing the Australian may do about it.
The Royal Montreal version was Scott’s 11th begin within the biennial blowout that has, save for a single second in a earlier century, gone solely the People means, and it was inconceivable to not learn the physique language of a participant who’s 0-10-1 on the worldwide stage.
It wasn’t all the time this manner. When Scott started his profession within the matches, he was the fresh-faced up-and-comer — The Gamers champion — decided to problem the USA’ dominance within the recreation.
In his first begin on the matches in 2003, Scott went 3-2 for a workforce that performed the U.S. facet, and Tiger Woods, to a attract South Africa. Two years later at Robert Trent Jones Golf Membership in Virginia, he once more produced, going 3-1-1, regardless of an Worldwide loss.
Every part since has been a disappointment.
Following one other fruitless week for the Remainder of the World, Scott is now 22-28-6. Misplaced on that scale is his victory alongside Taylor Pendrith on Day 2 that set the workforce report for factors received and helped sq. this version at 5-5, however finally did little to alter an consequence that’s turn out to be far too acquainted.
Scott hasn’t had a profitable report since his first two Presidents Cups and he was 2-3 at Royal Montreal because the U.S. workforce rolled to an 18 ½ to 11 ½ victory. But even in defeat — simply as he has been for greater than twenty years — he held tight to the notion that victory is close by for the Worldwide workforce.
“I had an amazing feeling for this workforce coming in. I felt like there’s been an evolution underneath this protect the final two cups, 4 or 5 years of that, and buy-in from all of the worldwide gamers,” he mentioned following his Sunday singles loss to Collin Morikawa. “It’s one thing that they aspire to play for. However you understand, the end result sadly is similar.”
Greater than every other participant, Scott has been the face of the Presidents Cup, for generally higher and most of the time worse.
Morikawa was his 11th completely different singles opponent and he’s had 19 completely different companions in workforce play with little to point out for his efforts. Whereas his loss Sunday dropped him to 5-6 within the particular person format, it’s his workforce play that’s so baffling.
From Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to Pendrith and Hideki Matsuyama, he’s performed alongside the Remainder of World’s greatest with stunningly poor outcomes and but he stands because the satisfaction, and maybe the ache, of the Worldwide workforce.
When requested Sunday if he was pushed to earn a spot on the 2026 squad that can tackle the People, it was Tom Kim, who’s half Scott’s age, who spoke for the workforce.
“Let’s make it three extra. Three extra,” Kim declared.
That’s the factor about legacies: they’re not all the time full of accomplishments and accolades. For every part that Scott has earned in his profession, from profitable a serious championship to greater than twenty years on the PGA Tour and 14 Tour titles, the Presidents Cup has all the time pushed, and baffled, him.
“There’s virtually no precedent, at the very least not for our facet — I imply 11 Presidents Cups,” Geoff Ogilvy, certainly one of Mike Weir’s assistant captains at Royal Montreal, mentioned of Scott’s legacy. “He began as a child with Ernie [Els] and Vijay [Singh] and [Angel] Cabrera and all these guys and he’s performed throughout to Tom Kim and stuff. It’s like he’s gone throughout generations. He’s the heartbeat of the workforce. He begins speaking and all the youngsters cease speaking. When Adam Scott talks concerning the Presidents Cup you cease to pay attention.”
It appears unlikely the 2024 Presidents Cup will likely be Scotts’ final however in golf, as in life, time is undefeated. He wanted a late-summer tools and angle change to qualify for this 12 months’s workforce and he admitted that the sport is turning into more and more troublesome.
“I’ve quite a lot of enjoyable with these guys. I informed them in the beginning of the week it’s them who’s motivating me and provoking me to make this workforce,” Scott mentioned. “The usual of golf is so excessive, and it’s getting tougher for me to maintain up, but it surely’s them that I look to to see what the usual is that I must compete and be on this workforce. Hopefully I can stick with it for one more couple years.”
However whereas the physique and recreation, which produced 4 top-10 finishes in his remaining 5 begins of the season, stay prepared, there’s no ignoring the truth that when the following match is performed Scott will likely be 46 years outdated. Whereas that will likely be effectively wanting the oldest participant to ever play for the Worldwide workforce — that honor belongs to Jumbo Ozaki, who was 49 when he performed the ’96 matches — there’s no denying that the sport is trending youthful and youthful.
Scott will likely be concerned a method or one other on the ’26 matches, both as a a vice captain or a participant (he’s an excellent guess to captain in Australia in ’28), however as he completed one other week on the incorrect facet of the victory column it was inconceivable to disregard what he’s meant, not simply to the Worldwide workforce however to an occasion that continues to desperately seek for parity.
