[Photo: Al Messerschmidt]
It’s hard to believe, but Adam Scott was once just a guy on the PGA Tour. That was a long, long time ago, long before he became known for having one of the prettiest swings in golf, long before he became a Masters champion.
Twenty-two years ago this month, Scott, now a 14-time PGA Tour winner, had just one PGA Tour victory. He was still a young pup with plenty of potential, but not exactly a household name.
Then he won the 2004 Players Championship. He did so in wildly exciting fashion. Leading by two strokes on the 18th tee on Sunday, the young Aussie found the fairway off the tee and had 213 yards into the green. Then, catastrophe seemingly struck, with Scott hitting a dead pull and immediately making a disgusted face at the ball flight. He knew it was headed for the drink. He was forced to drop short of the green and needed to get up and down to secure the victory.
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Scott did just that, chipping it 10 feet short of the hole and burying the bogey putt to win by one over Padraig Harrington. Just like that, he was on his way to stardom. Three days earlier, though, Scott was humbled in a big way, having just taken the first round lead with a seven under 65. He recalled the story on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, two decades later.
“I have funny stories from that week,” Scott said. “Actually, my wife and I were dating at that point, all those years ago. She was here with me. I’ve told this before. We had dinner on Thursday night after the first round, somewhere across the street, in the shopping complex. We were sitting at the bar eating and overheard the guys next to us. He said, ‘Who is leading this tournament?’ The guy looked at him and said Some expletive no name.’ It was me.
“My wife, or girlfriend at the time, was ready to kind of jump in there and let him have it, but I held her back. It was pretty funny. So it was good to go on and win and maybe get out of the no-name category.”
Not only did he get out of the no-name category that week, but he also solidified his big-name status by becoming one of the best players in the sport, even reaching World No. 1 in 2014, taking the spot from one Tiger Woods. Over two decades later, he’s still a top 50 player in the world. He’s still with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Marie Kojzar, the ultimate ride-or-die woman.