PINEHURST, N.C. – The normally reserved Adam Scott held to form even after a playoff loss that threatened to end one of the more impressive major streaks.
“There was a lot of uncertainty, I would say,” Scott said following a playoff loss to Cam Davis at last week’s U.S. Open final qualifier.
That uncertainty slowly cleared and on Monday the Australian was added to this week’s field at Pinehurst No. 2, marking his 92nd consecutive start at a major championship.
“By Friday, and fully understanding how this field works, I was feeling a lot better about myself,” Scott said. “It’s funny. It’s great not having been in that position but there is a lot to finding out how a field gets filled. And it’s complicated. I’m grateful I haven’t been in this position too much.”
The top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking following the Memorial Tournament earned spots into the U.S. Open. Scott, who is 61st, became exempt when the late Grayson Murray (No. 59) was removed from the USGA’s ranking criteria. Robert MacIntyre (No. 41) was also added.
Scott would have made the field via the alternate list as well. His site (Springfield, Ohio) was fourth on the USGA’s priority list. The second alternate from that site, Maxwell Moldovan, was added to fill out the 156-player U.S. Open field, along with Sergio Garcia (Dallas), amateur Brendan Valdes (Jupiter) and Otto Black (Columbus).
Scott took last week off and said the time away from the PGA Tour allowed him to work on his game after a grueling stretch of golf that included five consecutive tournaments.
“Last week I did some really good stuff,” he said. “I had played so many in a row I felt like my game was stalling and deteriorating. Got to have a couple of days off and then do some work on the range for a couple of days, kind of put back some of the stuff I’ve wanted to do for a couple weeks. Now I can concentrate on being here and competing.”
Scott tied for ninth the last time the U.S. Open was played at Pinehurst in 2014.