OAKMONT, Pa. – There was little to suggest recently that Adam Scott was on the verge of a career week.
He turns 45 next month. His iron play has fallen off. His broomstick putting has been inconsistent. His week-to-week desire has waned.
So was he really expected to stand up to the toughest, most demanding test of the year?
“There’s probably not been many signs to anyone else but me that my game is looking better,” Scott said, “but I definitely feel more confident than I have been this year. I feel like this is what I’ve been working toward.”
And it has set up one of the most unlikely stories of the year at the U.S. Open.
Scott made just a single bogey during a third-round 67 Saturday that vaulted him into a share of second place, just one shot behind leader Sam Burns. Scott will play in the final group Sunday at Oakmont as he looks to set the record for the longest gap (12 years) between a player’s first and second major titles.
Scott’s Hall of Fame candidacy could hang in the balance. He’s a 32-time winner around the globe, including 14 victories on the PGA Tour. He has ascended to world No. 1 for a total of 11 weeks. And he has been consistently, reliably good – this week he makes his 96th consecutive major appearance, second only to Jack Nicklaus. But Scott also admits that his career still feels somewhat incomplete, with just a single major title at the 2013 Masters.
“It would be super fulfilling,” he said. “Everyone out here has got their journey. Putting ourselves in these positions doesn’t just happen by fluke. It’s not easy to do it. I really haven’t been in this kind of position for five or six years, or feeling like I’m that player. But that’s what I’m always working toward.
“If I were to come away with it tomorrow, it would be a hell of a round of golf and an exclamation point on my career.”
Scott hasn’t been in the final group of a major since the 2018 PGA. He hasn’t won anywhere since early 2020. But he’s put himself in position, incredibly, with the kind of “old-man golf” that has proven to be very successful so far at brutish Oakmont.
Heading into the final round, Scott ranks third in strokes gained: tee to green, avoiding the gnarly rough with a steady dose of fairways and pinpoint accuracy with his approach play (third in proximity to the hole). He’s also gotten better each round on the greens, even if that required an adjustment on Saturday afternoon after an inch of rain took some of the fire out of arguably the most fearsome greens in golf.
Scott will have a significant experience advantage on Sunday; he’s the only player in the top 10 who has claimed a major or posted double-digit wins. But the test will be unlike anything he’s experienced in more than a half-decade.
“I’m playing good, so there’s no reason not to (feel good),” he said. “I’m playing from the fairway a lot. I’ve played fairly conservative, and I haven’t really been forcing the issue much. Could be a different story tomorrow. A lot can happen in 18 holes out here. But I like what I’ve done so far.”
Like Justin Rose before him, Scott acknowledged that his window for winning majors is still “ajar” – even if it’s now tougher to accomplish. The game is deeper, stronger, younger. Though he’s fit, his body moves differently each week. He uses regular Tour stops as tuneups for something better, in the eight weeks a year that he truly targets at this age.
“This is really where my mind goes at the start of every year,” he said.
And now it’s dialed in on an improbable major Sunday.