Adam Scott has bored himself to tears with monotonous, but very important, targeted practice in the lead up to what he expects to be one of the toughest Masters in recent times.
Scott expects officials at Augusta National will, weather permitting, set up a much tougher test for their showpiece major after Dustin Johnson produced a record-setting 20-under 268 total during the COVID-19 pandemic-postponed November Masters last year.
So the 2013 champion has put an extreme focus on discipline.
“Mental discipline is going to be a huge factor in this Masters if it stays firm and fiery,” Scott told AAP.
“If I stay mentally disciplined, I really like those conditions for me this week. I’ve worked a lot the last two weeks on discipline in my game.
“Not just technique and beating balls, but discipline doing tedious things over and over again to hopefully have that turn up when I need it most.”
Scott is acutely aware of how important patience can be.
In 2013’s final round he often found himself slipping behind others, including countryman Jason Day, and was even-par on the day through 12 holes before birdies on the par-five 13th and 15th holes set him up for his final hole birdie and, ultimately, a playoff victory over Angel Cabrera.
Augusta National’s history is littered with final round collapses and mistakes as those looking to get into the house fail to maintain their self-control. Experience counts at the Masters.
Since 1970, at least one past champion has finished in the top 10 of every edition and on 19 of those occasions a past champion won.
“It seems like – and I don’t want to jinx myself – the course looks after its past champions in a way,” said Scott.
“Maybe it goes both ways – we pay our respects to it and it looks after you.
“But I feel really comfortable playing here.
“Even if I’m not at my best I feel like I can get the ball around here.
“My game was getting better at Honda, which was good, but I’d like to drive it a bit better again here.
“If I can do that, that sets me up for a little bit more stress-free golf, which is not completely possible around Augusta National, but if you can take a little bit of the stress away, it makes for a nice week, and hopefully set yourself up for a run on the weekend.”