Adam Scott – file photo Golf Australia
The PGA Tour’s third Signature Series event of 2024, the Genesis Invitational, begins on Thursday at the famed Riviera Country Club in the suburbs of Los Angeles with three Australians included in the line-up for the US$20 million event.
Jason Day, Adam Scott and Cam Davis are those three players with Scott, in particular, an excellent performer in the event having been a two-time winner and twice runner-up. The first of his victories came in 2005 when the event was reduced to 36 holes but he would finish runner-up in 2006 and 2016 before completing a second win and his most recent PGA Tour victory in 2020.
Given the restricted nature of the fields for such events, Scott has had to rely on an invite to the event but is very much aware of just what this event and the venue have meant to him.
“Well, it’s always a highlight of my year playing here,” he said in Wednesday’s interview. “I love this track and I love this event. I’m lucky enough to have won it twice and it’s my favourite event I play on tour, so I’m so thankful to be a sponsor’s invite this week and get the chance to have another go around Riviera at the Genesis.
“I can’t remember exactly when the last sponsor’s invite was. I mean, I probably have been invited to a tournament in Asia or something like that throughout the years, but on the Tour, it’s been a while, that’s for sure.
“I’m of the view that these invitations are unrestricted to the sponsors and they can invite whoever they want and that’s up to them. So I feel lucky that I’ve got one of them. If I didn’t, then, you know, I didn’t qualify. So that’s how it goes.
“I don’t expect to get invited to every tournament that I ask for either, but I am very happy to be here. Like I said, this is an event I look forward to very much. It’s my favourite track of the year and hopefully make the most of it.”
Riviera Country Club has been good to Australian golfers as not only have Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley won here previously in addition to Scott’s wins but Steve Elkington won his one and only major here in 1995 when defeating Colin Montgomerie at the PGA Championship. Scott is aware of the Australian connection.
“I don’t think too many people would argue that it’s a great designed golf course, but there are other things to me. Obviously, I’ve played nicely here, so I have good feelings about that. I have feelings like I’m in Australia when I play the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes.
“The eucalyptus trees kind of smell like it does in Australia, the grass is similar, the weather can be similar as well, nice weather here in L.A. You know, I just have this certain level of comfort. There’s more than just purely a great golf course for me.”
Scott made mention of some health issues he has had of late but despite this and the enforced extended playing time in Phoenix, he feels he is in good enough shape for another good week this week after finishing tied for 8th place last week.
“I haven’t been 100 percent healthy the last few weeks, so last week was a bit of a challenge because I played like 30 holes on Friday and 30 holes on Sunday. There’s no doubt like I was feeling my left hip felt a bit tired like going into the last nine.
“The fact of the matter is I’m not 25 anymore, but I’m still in pretty good shape. I’m not complaining about it, I made it and I played well, but there is the reality of some age things. Recovery is important as well.
“I don’t practice quite as much as I did 10 years ago either, so it’s all a bit of a balance. Fortunately, I was in good enough health to get through last week. 3 Hopefully, I’ve got some in the tank for this week, too.”
Now a member of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board at a time when things are changing quickly, Scott is aware of just how much of an impact his involvement might have on his playing career and is treating such with caution.
“Yeah, I think we have to be aware that we have another job and to play high level golf, you need to put a lot into that. And that includes time for the brain to rest and recover as well.
“I think everyone involved at the PGA TOUR and including SSG are grateful to the guys who have put in so much time and are hoping that it won’t require as much time going forward.”
When asked his motivation for becoming more involved in the politics of the Tour, Scott responded;
“When I put myself up for — to be elected as chairman of the PAC, which puts you on the policy board, that was back in January last year.
“At that time the Signature Events had kind of been put in place and I was quite interested to be involved in the evolution of the competitions at the PGA TOUR and how the Signature Events might evolve in the competition and the FedExCup.
“I felt like I had a perspective that I could share and be helpful at the Board level with how that goes. Little did I know that I would get involved in some business deals and other things like that, but that was my motivation for going on the Board. I felt like I could be a positive contributor in that sense.”
