In summary

  • Adam Scott believes the International team keeps losing close matches to the USA because they fail to win the closing holes at 17 and 18.
  • Captain Geoff Ogilvy says Scott, who made his Presidents Cup debut in 2003, is a huge inspiration to a team desperate to win one for him.
  • Scott reveals teammate Hideki Matsuyama, playing his seventh Presidents Cup, also craves victory, though Scott says he now feels far calmer under pressure.

Adam Scott thinks he’s nailed just why he’s yet to experience a win in 11 Presidents Cup appearances.

It’s not a talent thing, or a team cohesion thing, with players coming together from countries as diverse as South Korea and Columbia with language barriers and cultural clashes.

As the Australian veteran conceded time was running out to taste victory in the biennial event won 13 of 15 times by the USA, including the past 10 in a row, Scott said that idea of domination was overstated.

Assembling at the redesigned Medinah Country Club in Chicago, a redesign steered by his International team captain and fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy, Scott pinpointed how the closing holes across foursomes, fourball and even singles seemed to never go his team’s way.

Nailing that, he said, could be the key to delivering the victory his teammates are adamant Scott deserves after being such a standout Presidents Cup servant since his debut 23 years ago, in 2003.

“I feel like when I analyze it with just my eyes and from where I sit, often I feel like the U.S. team wins the last couple of holes in matches very often when they're close,” he said in Chicago, arriving in red-hot form, off a tie for second at the BMW Championship at Wentworth.

“Even though the score line can look big at the end of the week it's like the 18th and 17th holes goes in their favour and not ours often enough.

Adam Scott is hoping for some later hole luck for the Internationals: (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“When I watch Europe play the Ryder Cup, I feel like the 17th and 18th holes goes in Europe's favour. So I feel like the matches, even on some of the big differences in score are closer than they really are.

“And I don't think we're far off, but those final holes and closing out the match is so important in this.”  

Scott has been passing all on the wisdom gained across his vast Presidents Cup experience to his teammates, and there’s a strong sense among them all to make that breakthrough for him as much as the International team and to silence the doubters with growing concern about the perceived lack of competition.

Ogilvy even declared Scott was key to the “inspiration” driving what he believes is one of the most connected and passional International teams ever assembled.

“He's obviously a big inspiration,” the captain said.

“We mentioned it last night (at a team dinner), but he played his first Presidents Cup in 2003. Some of these kids -- a lot of these kids weren't even playing golf in 2003. Yeah, he's a big inspiration.

“It's a cool journey he's taken. When he first got into that room, he was playing with Ernie Els and Vijay Singh and Nick Price. He was the young one in the room, and now he's the guy they all look at.

“Certainly, you would have thought if you were going to play all 12 in a row from 2003, that he would have won one by now.

“So it would be fantastic for the team, and I know everybody feels that way, that he's a big part of the inspiration they want to win for.”

Scott revealed the thirst for a victory wasn’t his own and that teammate and Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, playing his seventh Presidents Cup, wanted the “sweet” taste of victory as much as he did.   

“I remember two years ago soon after Canada (the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal) , we were in Japan and we had dinner and we talked about how much we want to win this together,” he said.

“Hideki has kind of been like my little brother in this event since 2013, we've been playing together. For both of us I think a victory would be so sweet. It's been some difficult close calls and some really tough weeks in the Presidents Cup, but like I said before, I mean, this is such a great opportunity for both of us this week.”

But for Scott that yearning to win has not elevated his sense of anxiety this week. Instead the now 45-year-old said he had become a much calmer player, a state which could pervade through the team despite the raised stakes.

“I think I'm the same in my passion for the game and competing is the same. I'm different in so many other ways,” he said.

“Obviously the experience is a nice thing for me coming in, and also being able to share some of that experience with the other guys like Ernie (Els) did with me my first Cup. You know, he really probably needed to take me under his wing that week, and he did and it was an incredible experience for me.

Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy chat at Medinah. Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

“I don't know if we have anyone on the team who really needs that this week. Even our rookies are quite seasoned, you know, like they're great players. No one's really out of their depth. So that's not the case this week.

“But I think I come in a lot calmer than I would have however many years ago that is.

“For me, of course I want to win one desperately and I don't know how many more I can possibly play in. But it's a team effort to do it. It's not, you know, we'll all have to want it so badly.

“And I would just say everyone should want it for themselves as much as anybody else on the team. I mean, I think it would be an amazing experience for us all to win this Cup.”