Driving force

IT'S a pivotal year for golfer Adam Scott, who believes his best is yet to come and whose charity foundation plans to open a Gold Coast youth centre.

Adam Scott

ADAM Scott turned 30 midway through last year but the celebrations were distinctly muted given the occasion – just close friends and family during British Open week.

Scott insists he doesn’t feel any different, yet more than a decade into his professional career, things are definitely changing for him. For a start, he has changed his coach and altered his swing. This year, he plans to fiddle with his schedule.

The biggest change, however, has come with his priorities. No longer does Scott intend playing for the sake of it. He won’t waste time chasing money or being another “lemming” on the lucrative US PGA Tour. After all, there’s only so many cars one man can fit in his garage (for the record, he’s currently driving a Land Rover Discovery – “the best car I have ever owned”). And Scott would rather devote time to the things that really matter – friends, family and his foundation.

“For me, money has never been a driving thing for golf,” Scott tells WISH while relaxing on a lounge in the salubrious surrounds of the clubhouse at Sanctuary Cove Golf Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast. “I was so fortunate. The day I turned pro I signed a deal with Titleist and I didn’t have to worry about money. So I never played for money. As a kid I never dreamt of money, I just dreamt of trophies – winning the [British] Open or anything.

“I have always played to win. Certainly that’s all I do now. Once you start earning money there are more people wanting some of it. You can get yourself in a position where you end up playing for money, even if you’re on the PGA Tour because there’s so much of it over there. That’s a problem some young players are falling into in the States.

“They are satisfied with finishing 10th and earning $120,000 that week. I think that’s damaging for a young golfer. I think playing on some smaller tours, and being hungry and wanting to win, [can be] more beneficial. I play to win and that’s how I judge success – by winning.”

If that’s Scott’s touchstone, last year was a reasonable success. He won twice - in Texas on the US PGA Tour and in Asia when he defended his Singapore Open title. Still, he isn’t satisfied. He wants to win a major - Scott’s results at the four biggest tournaments of the year have been mixed – and he hopes to be part of the Presidents Cup at the end of 2011, where he could be reunited with international team captain Greg Norman.

Norman has been a long-time mentor to Scott. Early in his career, he sought out his fellow Queenslander for advice. (Scott was born in Adelaide but has long called  Queensland home.) He vividly recalls the day he flew on Norman’s private jet. Now he has one of his own.

The Shark’s influence touches every aspect of Scott’s career. Asked about his reputation as one of the game’s best-dressed players, on and off the course, Scott says: “Most things in my life I got from my parents initially but certainly on the golf course, watching Greg Norman. He took a lot of pride and put a lot of effort into his appearance. He had his own clothing collection and he always dressed very sharp - his clothes fit him well. I noticed as a kid how he would dust off his shoes with a towel after he hit a bunker shot to keep them looking shiny rather than being dirty for the rest of the day.

“Most of the time people ask me what he has taught me and what advice he gives me, the help he gives me. A lot of stuff for me with Greg was picked up as a kid because he was my hero. Any kid, whoever their hero is, they pretty much notice everything they do. I think Greg carried himself extremely well. He was the No 1 player in the world. It wasn’t just Aussies looking up to him. He was looked up to by everybody around the world. He was the driving force in golf for probably 10 years. For the few people who take note of me, I would like to set a good example and keep the great tradition of golf going.”

Thus far, he’s done a remarkably good job. Scott is one of the sport’s most respected and popular players, and a magnet for well-heeled sponsors. It’s not hard to see why. Tall and good looking, he has appeared on Esquire’s best-dressed list and dated – or been linked with – some of the world’s most glamorous women (think tennis star Ana Ivanovic and actress Kate Hudson). He’s also impossibly nice. You won’t find Scott in scandal sheets. Wherever he goes, whatever he’s doing, Scott handles himself with an understated class. He doesn’t have to act cool. He just is. Nothing seems to faze him, be it on the golf course or off.

Case in point: less than an hour before this interview took place, Scott was standing on the fairway of one of Sanctuary Cove’s two revamped holes, wearing a suit and swinging a golf club. It’s not as easy as it sounds. The suit pulled against his arms as he feigned to launch balls into one of the extravagant homes that line the gated community that surrounds the course. Cramped clothing wasn’t his only challenge. The wind was blowing hard,
so hard his swing was intermittently interrupted as the make-up artist applied more product to his hair.

All this, and Scott didn’t miss a beat. He smiled when required, stared into the distance on request, struck a pose on cue. When the photographer finished, Scott smiled and said: “Is that it? Too easy.”

“I have experience now,” Scott says,  of the photo shoot. “I have done a fair few of them. I guess fashion-wise,
I have two different personalities. I have the beach culture and then, living in London for seven years and having been involved in two high-end companies through apparel sponsorship, I have certainly been influenced by them and [been able to] learn about high-end fashion. (Scott is no longer sponsored by Burberry but still favours the designer-brand’s clothing and, as of June last year, he teamed up with Aquascutum, which has developed its own line in golf apparel.)

In 2010 the golfer finished seventh on BRW’s list of sporting earners, raking in a healthy $4.1 million. He owns two homes – one on the Gold Coast and another in the ski resort of Crans Montana, high in the Swiss Alps. He has resisted the urge to buy a home in the United States. “I spend three or four weeks a year in Crans,” says Scott, who likes to surf and read in his spare time – right now he’s immersed in Steve Hamilton’s thriller The Lock Artist.
“Crans is beautiful. It’s like a holiday; so peaceful. I travel a lot through Switzerland. Last time I was there I drove to Interlaken and back. Then to Milan and Florence. The drive from my place to Milan, over the mountain pass, was just unbelievable scenery. Huge mountains, huge. Then to come out the other side in Italy – those lakes.”

His job takes him around the world, one of many perks that come with being a professional golfer. He has rubbed shoulders with former South African president Nelson Mandela and been to the White House twice, meeting former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush.

Of Mandela he says: “We didn’t get much of his time but it was certainly memorable. The female staff were weeping at his feet. It was moving.” And Clinton? “He is incredible, amazing. I met him when I was 19 and in college over there. Every time I see him he remembers it, which I think is amazing.”

Scott has reached a point in his life where he wants to give something back. His trip home at the end of last
year was a whirlwind. Not only did he play golf but he spent every spare moment promoting his charity, the Adam Scott Foundation, which supports disadvantaged and underprivileged youth.

His philanthropic eyes were opened while playing on the US PGA Tour, where tournaments often link with charities. His close friend, golfer Ernie Els, has a son with autism, and was also an influential figure. Scott set about making a difference in his own backyard.

“Obviously we all hear that children are the future but it started because I thought I was really lucky as a kid,” says Scott. “I wasn’t disadvantaged or underprivileged and I was given a lot of opportunity. This was a chance for me to provide some people with opportunity. That’s how it started. [Since then], we have done a lot of work with different charities throughout Australia to do with kids and young people. Now our profile is pushing up and we’re running our own programs.”

The foundation recently donated several interactive whiteboards and laptops to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane. In the near future, Scott hopes to open a youth centre, which will bear his name, on the Gold Coast. “That’s going to be a great moment for everyone in the foundation, because then there will be some bricks and mortar. People can relate to it. More than opening it, I am going to make sure it is functioning all the time and providing services that are really needed. It’s a big process.

“I certainly don’t see myself playing senior tours and so on. The foundation is something that, when I want to come home full-time, will be a really well established charity and something I can devote even more time to ... and help out people who need a hand.”

Does Scott have plans to raise a family of his own? “It’s not really an option at the moment,” he replies. Instead, he is  concentrating on his sporting career. This year promises to be pivotal. He believes his best is in front of him. “I think I am still learning every time, still trying to find exactly how to play my best golf and what I want to get out of the game. It’s an evolving process. I think I can be so much better. Fortunately in golf you have a lot of time to work on it. I have a lot of time up my sleeve. I am pretty happy to keep working away at it and eventually one day it gets to where I am satisfied.”

With Tiger Woods’ dominance on the wane, Scott is among those in position to take advantage. Given his age he should be entering his peak. “[Turning 30] actually felt quite good,” he laughs. “I am kind of over being called a young gun on the tour – and being the underachieving young gun. Time has flown but then if you start thinking about everything you have achieved in that time – I have done so much, travelled so much, seen so much. It’s not going by that fast.”