Adam Scott remembers all too well his one-shot loss to Rory McIlroy at last year’s Australian Open and the world No. 2 wants at least a two-day rematch with golf’s top-ranked player later this month at the Australian GC.
Adam Scott eyes Aussie Open showdown with likely Race to Dubai winner Rory McIlroy
Idle Rory McIlroy wins the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and Australian Adam Scott wants to tackle the world No.1 and Aussie Open defending champ later this month Down Under.
Matt King
Scott, who tied for 12th Sunday in China, six shots back of Bubba Watson and Tim Clark (Watson beat Clark on the first playoff hole of the WGC-HSBC Champions), urged Aussie Open organizers to pair him with McIlroy for the opening rounds of the event.
“It annoyed me for a little while,” Scott told reporters about his failed attempt to capture the third leg of the Australian Triple Crown by bogeying the final hole while McIlroy made birdie to come from behind for the win. “To mess up on the very last hole of the last of the four tournaments I played back home last year was very, very frustrating.”
Despite skipping the European Tour’s two “Final Series” tourneys in China, ostensibly to prepare for his court case against his former management firm, McIlroy will likely finish as the top Euro golfer for the second time in three years. He will start the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai in 10 days and then defend his title Down Under a week later.
Watson’s dramatic win, plus Marcel Siem’s victory at the BMW Masters a week earlier essentially guaranteed McIlroy the title in the Euro version of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup. Jamie Donaldson, who finished 24th at the HSBC, is McIlroy’s closest challenger for the crown and he, Siem, or Sergio Garcia could top McIlroy but each players chances doing so is extremely slight.
McIlroy’s triumph last December at Royal Sydney marked his first W of 2013. It also sparked a three-win 2014 on the PGA Tour that included back-to-back major victories at the British Open and PGA Championship.
For Scott, the chance to continue his burgeoning rivalry with McIlroy would be too good to pass up.
“I believe the organizers should take advantage and put Rory and myself together because it does happen occasionally at U.S. Opens where they pair the players according to their rankings,” he said. “It’s not often we have the world No. 1- and No. 2- ranked players in the same tournament in Australia and it would be fun to do, and I would certainly enjoy that.”
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