EVEN Adam Scott admits he was shocked.
The popular Queenslander grabbed the final spot in this month’s Presidents Cup team and sounded far more excited about that than he has about his game for most of the year.
Scott and young Japanese tyro Ryo Ishikawa were captain Greg Norman’s picks for the last two spots in the Presidents Cup squad for this month’s match-ups at Harding Park golf course in San Francisco.
American captain Fred Couples caused no ripples when he chose Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan to take his final two spots in his 12-man team.
Yet Norman opting for Scott, who had has his worst year yet on tour, did cause some rumblings.
Certainly the likes of South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini, India’s Jeev Milka Singh and Japan’s Shingo Katayama had every right to be disappointed.
All three were above Scott in the rankings for the Cup team and would have privately fancied their chances of selection.
Yet Norman still described Scott as “the logical choice”.
“There’s more than one thing you look at in selecting a player, and obviously a lot of it has got to do with past experiences,” he said.
“When you look back a year ago, Adam was the No. 3 player in the world.“So everybody goes through a slump.
“Everybody goes through slumps for different reasons; maybe it’s not your game but maybe something else is just a little bit out of sync in his life to put him in that situation.
“I know I’ve been there and I’m sure Freddie has been there, as well.
“In my conversations with Adam and with Frank Nobilo over a period of weeks now, I saw a huge boost of confidence from Adam himself.
“It’s not an easy task, but at the end of the day, he’s got the playing skills, and as Adam said, the team camaraderie, what he can bring to the locker room, the support he gives to the other players, the connection and the experience that he’s had playing on The Presidents Cup team. “It’s no slight on any of the other players.
“It was a tough decision.“But at the end of the day, we’ve got a commitment out of a player.
“He has rededicated himself to more of a higher degree, so he’s going to be ready.”
And Scott, expected back in Australia to chill out before the Australian events, instead stuck around and was on hand [by phone] to say he was thrilled to be chosen by Norman and his deputy Frank Nobilo.
“Maybe this was somewhat unexpected,” Scott said.
“Obviously it’s been a tough year for me, but I am really humbled by them picking me and I feel like that they still have the belief that I can contribute to this International Team."
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