Since earning his fifth-career PGA Tour win back in April of 2008, the talented Aussie has plummeted down the World Rankings, meaning he's as far away from winning that coveted major championship than ever before.

He sits near the very top of the “Best Player To Have Never Won a Major” list. And if momentum has anything to do with it, the chances of Adam Scott removing that dreaded label from his forehead next month at Augusta seem remote at best.

Photo: © Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Adam Scott has seen his distance off the tee drop dramatically this year, which may be one of the reasons for his recent struggles.

Since winning the Byron Nelson last April and then finishing eighth the following week at the Wachovia Championship, Scott has plunged from No. 4 in the World Rankings all the way to No. 21 this week. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why the Aussie’s game has taken a turn for the worse. Is it a result of a long string of injuries (dislocated knee cap, broken finger) and illnesses (tonsillitis) that have plagued him during the last 12 months? Or is it the “outside the ropes” factors such as the break-up with his long-time girlfriend or the much publicized, but never-confirmed romance with Hollywood starlet Kate Hudson?

Nobody knows for sure, but the numbers don’t lie. Since May of 2008, Scott has had 15 starts worldwide and has missed the cut three times with just three Top-20 finishes and only one Top-10. That Top-10 finish was a second place at this year’s Sony Open in Hawaii. He followed that effort up with a T-21 at the Qatar Masters, but just when it seemed like his game was picking up momentum again, it’s been all down hill since then.

In his last three events, Scott was bounced from the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship by Sean O’Hair, finished T-66 and was one of just 20 players not to break par at the no-cut WGC Championship at Doral and then shot 74-74 to miss the cut at last week’s Transitions Championship.

What stings the most about last week’s futile effort (he bogeyed four of his last 12 holes) is that he came into the event hoping it would help him tune up for the Masters, where he T-9 in his debut in 2002, but hasn’t had another Top-20 since then. Scott told ESPN’s Bob Harig that the Innisbrook Copperhead course at the Transitions is “good preparation for Augusta. It has a lot of movement off the tee, a lot of slope on the fairways. You have to hit some shots, and it's a challenging track. I really like the golf course, and it's probably going to be really tough. I'm looking forward to it.”

Unfortunately for Scott, he missed a cut for the first time since the Barclays Singapore last fall and only got in two “practice rounds” for Augusta while visiting Tampa Bay.

Photo: © Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Scott's putter let him down even more than usual last week at the Transitions Championship when he made 31 putts in two rounds before missing the cut.

Although his coach Butch Harmon says that injuries aren’t Scott’s problem, if you take a look at the stats and you have to think the knee and/or finger issues have taken some kind of toll. After five starts on the PGA Tour this year, Scott ranks 113th in driving distance at 281.5 yards per drive. Compare that with his eighth place rank in driving distance in 2008 (302.1 yards per drive), 18th in 2007 (300.9) and 16th in 2006 (301.1) and 23rd in 2005 (300.1), you have to wonder why there’s been such a power outage this year. In addition, Scott’s putter has failed him even worse than usual in 2009. He made 61 putts in two rounds last week at Copperhead and overall for the season he ranks 88th on Tour in putts per round.

It will be interesting to see how Scott fares this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Because since he’s already said that he won’t play next week in Houston, this is his final chance before Augusta to work things out on the course in a competitive atmosphere. Scott hasn’t played Bay Hill the last two years and in five previous starts there he’s had mixed results with a missed cut (2006) a T-3 (2004) and one other Top-25 (2003).

At 28 years old, Scott already has six PGA Tour victories, eight international titles and all the money he needs for the rest of this life. What’s missing is that coveted major title. And unless he starts driving the ball with the same power we’re used to seeing from him beginning Thursday of this week, that empty space on his mantle will remain just that.

Empty.


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bottomlinejay --- Feb 8th, 2010 10:00 pm