Masters champion and former world number one Adam Scott has been something of a quiet man of late, but the Australian, playing alongside Shane Lowry, backed up an opening -4 with a second-round three-under to lie just one stroke off the lead at the midpoint.
Despite being one of the most thoughtful and well-spoken players on the PGA Tour circuit, Scott’s sentiments had yet to be heard on the PGA Tour’s designated event schedule and plans for reduced field, no cut events in 2024.
“I think it’s great,” he replied, when asked what he was making of the designated events so far. “Each week we’ve had exciting golf tournaments coming down the finish with a host of top players and also some guys that are not necessarily household names challenging the top players. I think they have been exciting events, stacked fields. I certainly have had the sense in the players’ lounge or the locker room it’s like major championship golf. You look around and every big name is here. I think it’s been fantastic so far.”
Scott, who turns 43 this year, typically tees it up around 18 times a year on the PGA Tour, making an additional starts on the DP World Tour’s Australian swing, and with a potential 16 elevated events coming in 2024, comprising the majors, the playoffs, and the designated events, it’s possible that Scott could play his typical schedule without teeing it up on the regular PGA circuit at all.
“Hopefully I’m in the designated events next year,” he humbly asserted. “I’m probably, you know, not the best guy to ask. I play a light schedule anyway and I’m going to play the minimum amount. I mean, I’m just at that age where that’s kind of what I need to do. But some of my favorite events are not going to be designated, too. It’s a bit of a scheduling thing. We have a bit more freedom with the schedule obviously next year, so I could see some movement in the schedule, for sure.”
The proposed no-cut events drew mixed opinions from media outlets and the public alike, but Scott sees the value in the proposed format.
“Yes, I am actually,” he replied when asked if he was in favour of it. “Only from a commercial sense of, you know, the sponsors and the television who are helping us play for all this money get to capture a top player in case he has a bad couple days one of the weeks of the year. I think it’s not a big deal. I really don’t see or haven’t felt like the best players pushing for no cut because they’re afraid of missing a cut. I don’t think it really crosses their mind.”
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