Cam Smith’s PGA Tour scoring record broken in Hawaii as Adam Scott finishes top 15 to start his 25th season

As one Aussie’s PGA Tour scoring record was beaten amid a birdie blitz in Hawaii, a star veteran showed no signs of slowing down.

Adam Scott is still going strong. Picture: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Adam Scott began a remarkable 25th season on the PGA Tour with an age defying top-15 finish in Hawaii, adamant it’s not “unrealistic” that the now 44-year-old can notch up “big victories” in 2025.

Scott made his PGA Tour debut in 2001 when Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, who set a new 72-hole scoring record of 35-under to take out the season-opening The Sentry by three shots, was just nine years old.

Matsuyama produced his third round of eight-under 65, to go with a third round of 11-under 63, to surge past Cam Smith’s PGA Tour record of 34-under, a record set at the same event at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club in 2022.

History for Hideki 💪

Nobody has ever gone lower in a 72-hole event on TOUR than @HidekiOfficial_. pic.twitter.com/LrKxExwgJH

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 6, 2025

The 2021 Masters champ had earlier broken the three-round scoring record before racking up another seven birdies and an eagle in his final round to secure the first event of 2025 ahead of Colin Morikawa.

Scott, who skipped a return home to Australia for the Open and PGA to freshen up, finished in a tie for 15th at 21-under, a shot behind countryman Cam Davis, who opened his 2025 in fine style to finish tied for 13th.

Many of Scott’s long-time combatants and contemporaries, including the likes of Tiger Woods, have either succumbed to injuries as they age or found the influx of brilliant young talent too much to compete with.

But Scott, who finished 2024 as the oldest player in the top 20, and the top-ranked Australian, has defied any perceptions of an inevitable decline and predicted bigger things to come with a clear mind focused only on another win.

Adam Scott is still going strong. Picture: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

“I haven’t achieved all my goals that I set out to, so I don’t think it’s unrealistic, given the way I’ve played certainly the last six or eight months, to get myself back up toward the top of the rankings again,” he said in Hawaii.

“I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think I can still achieve a couple big victories out here that I would like, and that’s really, I guess, what drives me.”

Davis blew his chance for a top-10 finish after he and playing partner Will Zalatoris hit the wrong balls at the par-5 15th, both incurring two-stroke penalties.

They also had to return to the spot where they played their third shots from, both getting up and down for bogey.

Despite the mishap, and having found some form late in 2024 to make the FedEx Cup playoffs before a bold start to 2025 in Hawaii, Davis said he was keeping his goal “pretty simple”.

“It’s just keep on doing a better job with the little things that I can control, my mind, my technique, all that sort of stuff,” he said.

“I’ve done some good practice over the break, and really it’s just a matter of maintaining and continuing to improve that sort of stuff. I feel like if I do a good job of that, the results will come, so I’m not going to try and put too much pressure on myself to get high up the leaderboard.

“I’m going to try and just keep doing what I’m doing right now and let that do the work.”