Masters champion Adam Scott missed his chance for his second major title, spending too much time in Oak Hill’s deep rough to make a charge at the PGA Championship.
The 33-year-old Australian made five birdies and five bogeys to settle for a final-round par-70 and a five-under 275 total, sharing fifth place five shots behind US winner Jason Dufner.
“It would have been nice to get another win in a major seeing I had kind of put myself in position, but I didn’t, so I have got to push on and try and win a couple other tournaments this year to feel like I really got something out of my good play,” Scott said.
Scott opened bogey-birdie and birdies at the ninth and 12th put him seven-under, four off the lead with six holes to play.
But forced to gamble, Scott found his way into Oak Hill’s unforgiving dense rough and made bogeys at 13, 16 and 18 against a lone late birdie at the par-3 15th.
“It was a mixed bag, just a sloppy finish unfortunately. Hit a few poor drivers coming in and made it hard to make par,” Scott said.
“I felt like I was still in there with a chance coming up 13 if I could do something special up there and 14. You never know. But the rough got me. I was in the long stuff too much to really have a good chance. You can’t escape it all the time.
“I’m not frustrated at all. I wish I could have played better and I really didn’t. I just didn’t play clean enough golf.”
Scott, whose anchored-putting style will be banned starting in 2016, wants to have chances like he did at Augusta National, where he became the first Aussie to win a green jacket, and at Oak Hill.
“The real goal is to put myself in this position a lot more,” Scott said. “This year I think I led every major at some point during the week. It’s hard to stay there for four days and have the lead the whole time, but I feel I’m improving still, so it’s something to build on for next year.”
And the next major start for Scott will be a Masters title defence.
“I’m going to try to do all the right things between now and next April and go back and try and defend,” Scott said. “I feel like I’ve got the right program in place. I just have to keep the motivation high and keep working hard.”
That includes a succssful run in the upcoming US PGA Tour playoffs.
“I would like to feel I could win a couple of those events if I continue to play well and get some satisfaction out of what I feel like has been a good year of golf,” Scott said.
Aussie Jason Day shared eighth on 277 with countryman Marc Leishman sharing 12th another stroke adrift.
“The future looks really promising (for Australian golf),” Scott said. “Jason obviously has got a real taste for it. He was hot for a while and he looks like he has really got the game to where he’s going to be a threat for as long as he wants now. Leish has got to be feeling good too.
“We’ve got a whole host of guys with the experience. It’s just a matter of form. When that comes back, we’re going to be really strong.”
Late stumble foils Adam Scott's PGA title bid
