Scott stumbles at Hoylake

Weekly Wrap :: July 18 - 24

Adam Scott may well have recorded his sixth top ten finish on the tour this season at last week’s British Open, but it was not enough to stop an emotion charged Tiger Woods taking out the 135th open.

The 135th British Open Championship, belonged to Tiger Woods last week, after carding rounds of 67-65-71-67 to finish on 18 under par, two strokes ahead of fellow American Chris Di Marco and five strokes clear of third place getter Ernie Els.

Adam Scott once again put in a solid performance at Royal Hoylake, but like so many other chances he has had this season, his final round would be disappointing for the young Australian who fell short of Tiger Woods finish by nine strokes.

Scott finished with rounds of 68-69-70-72, to end up on nine under par, nine strokes behind Woods, but the story could have been so much closer for the Australian had he avoided dropping three strokes on the final two holes in Liverpool. His final position saw him tied in eighth spot, something that has seen Scott rise to number six in the world rankings, without in fact winning one.

Other Aussie contenders suffered badly on the final day to fall away, including Robert Allenby, Peter Lonard and Geoff Ogilvy, the reigning US Open champion, the next best placed Aussies on six under the card, finishing tied in 16th spot. Rod Pampling and John Senden finished well off the pace, tied in 35th spot on two under.

Scott will be happy with his finish nonetheless, his placing earning him €138493.59 and taking him to number eight on the US Order of Merit. There are still three Australians in the top ten, including Scott, Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy. In other US PGA news, Greg Chalmers has finished in 32nd spot at the B.C. Open at the Turning Stone Resort.

After the excitement of the Open Championship, tour action returns to normal this week. On the US tour, action comes from the U.S. Bank Championship where Greg Chalmers and Steven Bowditch are the two best known Aussies competing.

In Europe action comes from Germany, still getting over its post WC hangover, with the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe from Gut Kaden. A strong field of Aussies including Peter O’Malley, Wade Ormsby and Brett Rumford, have the challenge of taking on the likes of Retief Goosen and Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who was in contention for the British Open title last week.

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