Australian Open: beware an angry Adam Scott, warns Wayne Grady

Wayne Grady yesterday warned it would be folly to write off Adam Scott for this week’s Australian Open.

Wayne Grady says Adam Scott will be keen to make amends for a disappointing showing at the Australian Masters last week.

Adam Scott will play in the shadow of Jordan Spieth this week but former major winner Wayne Grady warned yesterday it would be folly to write off the world No 12, predicting he could respond to his Masters disaster by lapping the field at The Australian Golf Club.

Scott looked like romping away with the Masters when he reached 11-under through 27 holes at Huntingdale Golf Club, but his hopes of landing a third gold jacket came unstuck over the ensuing 45 holes as he slumped to fifth place behind eventual winner Peter Senior.

The challenge only gets greater this week as Scott faces a field strengthened by the presence of Spieth — the American is the hot favourite to defend the Stone­haven Cup — as well as the cream of Australian golf and the talents of another former world No 1, Eng­lishman Lee Westwood.

Grady, however, suggested Scott had the potential to wreak havoc in the wake of last week’s disappointing performance in Melbourne.

“That will have really pissed him off last week,” Grady said.

“He will be extra motivated this week and he hasn’t won this year, so he has to keep that streak going. He just has this week. Don’t be surprised if he comes and laps the field, which he can do.

“His driver was really poor (in Melbourne). Last year he put on a clinic with the driver. I think ­Scotty’s wedges aren’t very good. He hits so many wedges into the greens, if he could get that sorted out, well then you wouldn’t stop him.”

Scott’s performance in Melbourne was symptomatic of his year. For the first time in more than a decade, the Queenslander is staring at the prospect of a winless season. He only has this week and next — when he will play in Tiger Woods’ tournament in the Bahamas — to extend a streak which stretches back to 2000.

Spieth is wary. “I think he’s the guy to beat this week,” he said.

“He had it last week and he just had an off day in the wind, I think on Saturday.

“He comes into a place that he’s obviously comfortable with, he’s played well, he’s had good rounds and he’s fresh.

“And he’s also probably got a bit of a chip on his shoulder too off last week, especially being back home and everyone saying you haven’t won since the Colonial 2014. “I guarantee you, he doesn’t like hearing that and so he’s going to go about trying to change that and I think he’s the guy to beat this week and I’d like to give him a charge.”

Spieth did just that last year on his way to the title, blitzing not only Scott but the remainder of a field which included Rory ­McIlroy.

He arrived in Sydney having spent last week honing his game on the Melbourne sandbelt, ticking Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath off a bucket list which includes many of the world’s best courses.

While Scott will begin the Open alongside fellow Queenslander John Senden and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Spieth has been drawn alongside former Open winner Geoff Ogilvy and Westwood.

Despite his belief that Scott could blow away the field, Grady acknowledged Spieth was the man to beat after a season in which he won twice at the majors and another three times on the US PGA Tour.

“The guy is coming off a tremendous year and he has to start favourite,” Grady said.

“That 63 he shot here last year — I have been coming here so long — was as good a round as I have seen. It was just brilliant. Obviously he is the favourite but everything has to go well.”

Meanwhile, former Masters champion Nick Cullen says he has no regrets over his decision to chase a European Tour card at the expense of his defence of the gold jacket.

Cullen led the European Tour school after the opening round but ultimately fell short as he struggled with a hand injury over the six-round marathon. In his absence, Peter Senior won the Masters at the age of 56.

“It’s always disappointing when I realised it was the same week,” said Cullen who played a practice round at The Australian yesterday with Senior and fellow veteran Peter O’Malley.

“I really wanted to be there again and try to win again. But you have to try to get on bigger tours and give yourself more ­opportunities.”