Adam Scott hoping for fast USPGA Championship start

World Number Two Adam Scott believes low scoring will be the order of the day when the USPGA Championship gets underway at Valhalla Golf Club tomorrow

It has been said that ‘God giveth life, and that God taketh it away’. It’s the same with the weather, particularly at major golf tournaments, except that sometimes the ‘taketh’ can precede the ‘giveth’. The weather taketh away from Adam Scott in no uncertain terms at the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool last month, when the Australian’s performance was under-rated after he was the only golfer from his half of the draw to contend over the weekend, after enduring the worst of the weather for the first two rounds. Scott finished fifth, and won “the other tournament”, as Justin Rose described it.

Well, Scott has an early 8:15 tee time in the first round of the USPGA Championship on Thursday here at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, playing with Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood, and the forecast is for “a cold front to drive southward into the area late on Thursday… increasing chances of rain”. Scott could miss the bad weather this time, while new world number one Rory McIlroy – who emphatically took advantage of the calm and sunny side of the draw at Hoylake – may have to contend with worsening conditions on Thursday, with a 1:45pm tee time in the first round.

“If the weather conditions are good, there are going to be some low scores,” said Scott today. “I have an early morning tee time so hopefully I can take advantage of that.

“I left the Open extremely disappointed. I felt I played really well and I finished fifth, and there are lots of good things to take from that.”

Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, has won once in 2014, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club in May, the week after reaching the world number one ranking for the first time. Scott remained at number one for 11 weeks, until McIlroy succeeded him on Sunday, having won his last two starts, at the Open and the Bridgestone Invitational.

“The right guy is at number one,” adds Scott. “Rory has played the best over the past couple of months and the guy who is winning the most tournaments should be ranked number one. Rory has won three big events this summer and I have won one. You want the rankings to work like that, so I think it is fair at the moment, but I hope I can win this week and maybe go back to number one.”

Robin Barwick travelled to the PGA Championship courtesy of Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz is the official car of the PGA Championship