Adam Scott, 2025 US Open, “Old Guy Still Knows”

Oakmont, Pa. – A month from his 45th birthday (now a lead in Oakmont), he was asked earlier in the U.S. Open Week how he thought of his “main championship window.” He paused to think about this because he tended to respond to a word.

“Ajar” he said with a smile.

If you’ve seen Scott conduct interviews over the years, you might imagine his voice as he said. You can enjoy Adam Scott’s situation. clever. serious. Decide.

But then, he volunteered to announce his intentions more and let himself dream.

“I’ve put together a good career, but I think another major career will really help when it’s all said,” he said. “Talking bravely, victory Realize your own self. Because what would happen if victory never came? But Scott knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to say that.

He added: “That’s all the activity I really fought for.”

It was Friday, evenly in back-to-back games. Saturday, when Scott ESPN Writer Paolo uggetti reminds me of the best genre of sports stories and the role of sports: The old guy still understood.

As far as I know, this is a phrase ring Writer Bryan Curtis. He detailed the theory in a 2021 article where he recounted the story of “The Old Guy Still Has Getted” as “A Smart Veteran Over Dad’s Time”, or my personal favorite “There’s a Rally with an Evening Game”. nice one.

Guys, it feels like Adam Scott had a late rally. On Saturday, he even shot in the first nine shots, while the birds came home 13, 14, 17. The crowd found their favorites, roaring home in his two matches of 18th and 67, and tied up a day’s low. Now he heads to a T2 shot on Sunday, where he will have a final match with leader Sam Burns.

On the one hand, Scott doesn’t seem to be like an “old man”. He has a big body and a big hit, and his swing is still used as an outstanding prototype for the sport. He always has timeless qualities in golf swing and competition. He seemed to be older when he was young, and now he seems to be younger. On the timeline of professional athletes, he is older. Curtis’ original “old man” theme, on the other hand, is 36-year-old NBA star Chris Paul. Probably in the NBA year, there were 36 years of conversion to 44 in professional golf years. Either way, Scott knows that like the chance he has on Sundays only shows up often.

“I really haven’t been in this position for five to six years or feel like I’m that player, but that’s what I’ve been working on,” he said on Saturday, finishing the top 20 for five consecutive times in the 2018-19 year, including third in the 2018 PGA Championship. But he has never been that close since then. “If I were to leave it tomorrow, it would be a hell of a round of golf,” he said. “It was an exclamation mark of my career.”

The sentence “sigh” nods to the recurring features of the old guy type. These stories are so interesting to take root because they satisfy the last chapter of a player’s career. Tom Brady won the Super Bowl at Tampa Bay, and Curtis called Carmelo Anthony a counterexample – his career never gained temptation and ended with some imperfect dilemma. For most athletes, even very good athletes, do this.

Perhaps the part I liked about Old Curtis’ observation was the last one he wrote. “When older athletes become protagonists, older writers suddenly find themselves with an advantage,” he said. “When a sports writer says ‘the old man still knows’, he’s trying to convince you. he The same is true. ”

When I returned to the media center on Saturday night, the golf channel’s “Live from” started, and it was a full of people who still owned it, just like Scott’s idea of ​​doing the same. I added the tweak as they tickled his Saturday highlights and turned to decades-old golf writer Jaime Diaz to draw on his point of view.

“This is a comforting person who is 44 years old, nearly 45 years old, see [Scott] Diaz said. There were a lot of heartbreak in his career, but he looked tough. ”

Brandel Chamblee builds on Scott’s idea of ​​courage and provides his resilience in the 2004 Player Championship. Scott scored a goal into the water at No. 18 but calmly gathered himself on his way to the iconic victory. Chamblee also caused Scott’s heartbroken at the 2012 Open when he shrank the last four holes. But Scott only had two Grand Slams after winning the green jacket in 2013.

“He does things the right way. I mean, absolutely the right way,” Charblee added. That’s Scott’s general sentiment – grace Used as a general descriptor.

“These great champions would be better and have a little bit of sensibility,” added the show host Rich Lerner.

Paul McGinley put him into practice from the entire scene.

“I believe in fate, sometimes golf gods have something in the store,” he said.

So what is Adam Scott? Arguably the greatest writer of golf, Michael Bamberger, left the media center, because I tried to solve this problem, so I put it on his way.

“He is the closest thing we have to get to Federer,” said Bamberg, comparing it to the great effortless grace of tennis. “He has grace to him.”

The history of golf is full of stories of the elderly, and it’s a simple and obvious reason: it’s much easier to compete in old age than other sports. But that doesn’t make them less special. Considering the two greatest Masters in history are classic old guys still get the narrative: 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus won in 1986 (“The Old Bear Already Have Life!”) and 2019 Tiger Woods (“Back to Glory!”). Scott is now halfway between his ages, even though he won the 50-year-old Phil Mickelson in the 2021 PGA Championship.

Of course, it is not always useful for the elderly. Fifty-nine-year-old Tom Watson was heartbreaking at the 2009 Open. Sam Snead, fifty-one, almost won the 1963 Masters. Recently, Justin Rose, like Scott, finished second in the 2024 Open and then lost the 2025 Masters in the playoffs.

Therefore, the crowd is expected to be around Scott on Sunday as he continues to play the final round of the 96th Major. Because he has been a fan favorite for twenty years. Because his resume should include more than one major. Because if he can still do something great, then we who age gracefully off the field can be great too.

Because the old guy still knows it.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments via dylan_dethier@golf.com.

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