THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome Adam Scott into the interview room here at the 2023 Travelers Championship. You're making your third start. T13 finish last year. Played in the pro-am. Just some comments on what it's like to be back here?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I haven't played here much over my career, but really enjoyed last year. Happy to be back. Obviously important event being designated this year, and we're at a pretty critical time in the season. I'm on the outside looking into the playoffs at the moment, so really want to take advantage of every start I have and certainly this week with a strong field, moving into kind of the summer of golf which finishes our season.
THE MODERATOR: Coming in with three top 10s on the season, two at designated events. Just get some comments on the state of your game right now.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, brushing off last week, I just didn't play well, but I've been playing well certainly the last couple months since the Masters, and that's where my top 10s came recently.
Last week was a little bit of a surprise. But, it can happen at majors and certainly U.S. Open. But I have to brush that off and come in here.
I feel like I'm swinging the club well. All parts of my game feel like it's good enough to contend. I've seen that from the results the last four or five events.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. From your times here at Travelers, what's unique about this course? What's unique about the tournament?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I'm not speaking from a lot of experience really, but even just playing nine this morning, I think the condition of the golf course is fantastic.
Probably the guys who have played here a lot have a good knowledge of the greens, and I felt like I'm lacking a little bit in that out there today, so I was trying to pay attention as much as I could on the greens.
I think that's probably where this tournament is won and lost, and hopefully I get in a good are you familiar out on the greens. They're firm and fast at the moment with no rain, if that's possible.
It could be a tricky week around the greens. I think that's it as far as I see from the golf course.
But certainly playing here last year and the atmosphere and the amount of people that come out and enjoy the tournament makes for a fun vibe for us to come play. Exciting to come play golf here every day.
Q. Obviously it's a pivotal time with the recent announcement. PGA TOUR in alliance with the PIF. Give us an update on the player meeting and if there are any questions that have been answered.
ADAM SCOTT: I think the player meeting went well last night from where the player meeting was two weeks ago. I think some of the emotions have cooled. There are still lots of questions to be answers because we really only have this framework that was announced.
So although that seems fairly simple, I think the deal sounds quite complex and this could take a long time. I think hopefully everyone is cooling down and as things go along, there is transparency to the players and those questions get answered.
And then, you know, I think it will be evaluated whether it's a good deal for the PGA TOUR and its players and the game of golf moving forward.
Q. What do you think the biggest question is that players are wondering right now?
ADAM SCOTT: I really think it's just maybe the same as everybody in the golf world. Just surprise that out of the blue this happened. I think some people may have thought it would happen in the future to kind of stabilize things so there wasn't a constant fight in the game.
Maybe it happened sooner than we thought. I think every one is still working to get over the surprise and the fact that there was no indication that this was even close to happening.
Q. What are you kind of feeling about the proposed deal?
ADAM SCOTT: I think as far as the deal goes, I'm happy to wait and see how the deal points are worked out and see whether that really suits as a whole.
Of course I have some emotional -- I'm caught up emotionally because I stayed on the PGA TOUR and this looks -- and it was put to us that if we left we were never coming back, and it seems there is going to be pathways back.
You know, eventually we'll find out if that's the best for the game and how we feel. So I have some emotions about that, but kind of time often plays a big part in these things so see how it advances.
Q. Adam, has it been hard or easy to juggle golf in where you were at with the merger? Has it be easier to process as the weeks have gone on? Do you feel angrier now or less angry than you did then?
ADAM SCOTT: I don't even -- I'm not sure that I ever felt angry about it. I think it's obviously easier. Last week felt like a break from it. Even though we were all there and the same players are there, it wasn't a PGA TOUR event. It was run by the USGA and felt like a break.
We're straight back into it with player meetings here this week. I think that's like what I said before, just when you're very surprised, some emotions are stirred up, and I think you can't help but feel -- you can't help but feel left in the dark even though I don't expect to run the PGA TOUR and them to run everything by me.
It was just sooner than maybe anybody thought. That's all. I think, yeah, things are calmed down and things were more calm in the meeting yesterday. Guys still have tons of questions. Hopefully they're answered in time.
Q. We're pretty close to the 20th anniversary of your first win on the PGA TOUR. In '03, young kid, did you ever look down the road and say, man, I can't wait to be playing -- I'll be playing on the PGA TOUR 20 years from now. Is that the uniqueness of golf or did you not even get caught up in that?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think it's fairly unique to golf, that's for sure. There are a few exceptions in other sports, but they're the exceptions. Generally a lot of guys make it into their 40s out here.
What I do remember when I was around that time of 23, looking at some of my heros that I watched as a kid growing up and couldn't believe how would they were and they were my age, and I'm sure there are some kids out here who look at me and can't believe I'm still out here.
I think when you're 20 or 23 you can't imagine 20 years of golf into the future. It's hard to process that. If you asked me then I probably said I wouldn't be playing at this age.
But, you know, I love it and I'm really happy to be out here, and I still think I've got the game to win some events. So I'm going to keep pushing while I feel that way.
THE MODERATOR: All right, appreciate the time as always. Good luck this week.
ADAM SCOTT: Thanks. Thanks a lot.
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