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In the aftermath of the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, after his hopes of winning a second career major championship drowned on a waterlogged course arguably unfit for the finish of a national championship, Adam Scott received a text message from USGA officials.
“I think they were just checking my temperature that I wasn’t steaming,” Scott recalled. “I didn’t reply.”
Which probably said plenty about how the amiable Australian veteran felt about the conditions in the final round last June when the USGA opted to splash on at Oakmont after another deluge of rain caused a 90-minute suspension and left the storied course on the edge of unplayable. It also undoubtedly was an indication that USGA officials knew deep down they erred in finishing even as rain continued to fall.
Scott said Thursday at Muirfield Village Golf Club that he wished he would have insisted on halting play or consulted with playing partner Sam Burns and simply put their collective feet down and stopped rather than continue in the sloppy conditions. Scott was in the day’s final pairing with Burns, who was one stroke in front of Scott and eventual winner J.J. Spaun.
“I feel in the moment I was like, ‘I’m not going to be the guy complaining.’ But looking back on it, of course, I think I should have,” Scott, 45, said after opening with an even-par 72 in the Memorial Tournament. “Maybe not complain but spoken up after my shot at 11.”
With his club hydroplaning through casual water, Scott hit a wedge that flew 170 yards, landing over the green, and he went on to make a double bogey. He struggled to a nine-over 79 and ended up tied for 12th at six-over 286, seven strokes behind Spaun, the only player to finish under par at 279. Only one player shot a higher score than Scott, who was seven over par for his remaining 11 holes after the weather delay.
Burns, meanwhile, shot 78 and tied for seventh at four-over 284. He played the last 11 holes in six over par. Playing a few groups ahead, Spaun closed with a 72 that included a remarkable 45-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win by two over Robert MacIntyre.
In the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Brooks Koepka refused to continue as he watched his ball on the 11th green moving amid winds gusting to 40 miles per hour. Eventually, after Koepka argued with a rules official for five minutes, play was suspended.
Winner of the 2013 Masters, Scott will be competing in two weeks at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y., for his 100th consecutive start in a major championship, joining Jack Nicklaus as the only players to appear in at least 100 majors in a row.
“It wasn’t great,” Scott said of how challenging the difficult Oakmont layout, one of the most challenging in the U.S. Open rotation, became after the already soaked course near Pittsburgh sustained another deluge. “Obviously, it was great for J.J. in the end, but everybody else probably feels like it wasn’t a great finish.
“I was trying to think in my head, there’s no one else dealing with this? There’s a ton of other groups on the course. Is everyone OK? I mean, I was kind of thinking someone might speak up, but I wish it was me now looking back on it. Yeah. I mean, Sam did and didn’t get him very far, actually.”
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Main Image: Ben Jared
