Adam Scott turns 45 ahead of 25th straight Open Championship and 97th straight major

A birthday on the eve of the Open Championship isn’t the only thing Adam Scott wants to celebrate, adamant he has more majors in him.

As he nears an incredible major milestone that is testament to his longevity, Adam Scott is adamant every event becomes his best chance to add to his single triumph, conceding that things “only get harder and harder” as each opportunity goes by.

Scott, who turned 45 on Wednesday, scaled the major mountain over a decade ago with victory at the 2013 Masters. He is teeing it up in his 97th consecutive major at The Open at Royal Portrush, eyeing off becoming only the second player to play 100 in a row.

That’s a feat only Jack Nicklaus has achieved, but the Golden Bear racked up 18 wins to Scott’s single triumph across that legendary journey.

Adam Scott hasn’t given up on winning another major. Picture Glyn Kirk / AFP

With top-20 finishes in his past two majors starts, and a top-10 finish at last year’s Open, Scott has shown a capacity to continue to contend, still willing to make the sacrifices to perform at the top level.

But he’s a realist and knows chances will soon run out, so he has to make the most of every opportunity.

“Yeah, the numbers are getting big. What’s not big is my major wins, so I’d like to change that, double it this week,” Scott told media on his birthday at Royal Portrush.

“I’ve worked hard to keep myself in this spot and I really don’t have any results to show for how good I feel like I’ve played this year, which is part of golf and frustrating.

“But the reality is, I mean, I don’t know, I hope I can do this for another 10 years, but that’s going to be … it only gets harder and harder.

“So this week’s my best opportunity to win a major. That’s every major I play probably from now on.

“That’s how I’m going to feel and I still feel like I sacrifice a lot to keep myself in this position, so I want to make the most of it.”

Scott tees off just after 9pm Australian time on Thursday.

Open Championship Australian tee times/groupings (Australian times)

3.57pm - Cameron Smith, Marco Penge, Justin Hastings (a)

4.08pm - Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Jacob Skov Olesen

4.19pm - Phil Mickelson, Daniel Van Tonder, Ryan Peake

4.52pm - Darren Clarke, Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert

8.26pm - Stewart Cink, Matteo Manassero, Marc Leishman

9.09pm - Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)

9.20pm - Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia

11.37pm - Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee

1.05am (Friday) - Daniel Young, Curtis Luck, Curtis Knipes