Adam Scott focusing on this Masters week, not past success

Adam Scott

Birthplace: Adelaide, Australia.

Age: 35.

Turned pro: 2000.

How qualified: The past Masters champion has also won two PGA Tour events this year.

Best Masters finish: Champion in 2013.

Best stat this season: Scott is No. 1 in eagles, with eight in 504. That ability is huge at Augusta National, whose four par 5s are statistically the easiest on the course.

First-round tee time: 11:05 a.m.

Adam Scott comes to this week’s Masters as a former champion and with two wins on the PGA Tour this season.

But none of those things will help the 35-year-old Aussie try to win his second major at Augusta National.

“…It’s a new week and a new challenge, and the way I see it, I’ve got three tough days, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, to put myself in a position to win a Masters championship,” Scott said.

Scott’s win this season came back-to-back a month ago at the Honda Classic and the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

Four weeks can seem like an eternity to golfers. Since then, Scott tied for 12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when a second-round 73 took him out of contention, and tied for 28 at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play.

“I’ve just tried to pace myself and really temper my expectations a little bit or lower them coming here, because it’s been a long time since Doral when I last won,” he said. “Like I said at the start, I can’t just expect to show up and fall into contention here this week. It’s a major championship. It’s a different examination altogether and it will require complete focus to get there on Sunday.”

One of Scott’s strengths this year is one of the things that most were most curious to see: his putting.

Scott used a long, anchored putter for many years, but was forced to change when the R&A and USGA announced in 2013 that they were banning their use, starting this season.

Switching back to the short putter that he used for his first 10 years as a pro, Scott is No. 9 on tour in putting average with an average of 1.713 per hole, or 30.83 per round. In 12 cuts made at the Masters, he has ranked between third and 51st in putting. His winning year he averaged 30 putts per round and ranked 39th.