Sky Sports.com

Scott: could have done even better?

"Adam Scott is not immune to making mistakes, but I bet that in his heart of hearts he wishes he'd gone for it. That tournament is one of many he is going to win, but he won't have many chances to shoot 59.

Denis Pugh
Quotes of the week

GOLF NIGHT
Thursday to Sunday on Sky Sports

Adam Scott won the Qatar Masters with a course record round of 61 on Sunday - but some of the Golf Night team were still disappointed.

Scott overhauled third-round leader Johan Edfors with a sensational score on the final day, but might have scored a 'magical' 59 when he had a chance to drive 260 yards for the green on the 18th hole.

But instead Scott, who was leading by three shots at the time, opted to avoid the water and laid up on to the centre of the fairway before holing a par-five to seal the victory.

Golf Night experts Denis Pugh and Rob Lee were disappointed that Scott didn't go for the 59, but Mark Roe insisted that he took the professional option.

Roe said: "I think the commentators were getting more excited than Adam was and I think what he did showed signs of great maturity.

"He had 260 yards to the front of the green, but the water goes all the way to the front and turns along the edge of the green.

"The flag is at the back left side, so to go for the flag was all carry over the water, so it's not just 260, it's probably nearly 280 to carry on line with the flag, which is a huge hit with a three wood.

"He might have done that if he'd hit the best shot he'd ever hit and it might have come off.

"But we've seen players throw away tournaments before and he had Henrik Stenson behind him. If Adam Scott had hit it in the water and then didn't hit a great chip and made six or seven, then there was still an opportunity for Stenson to catch him.

"But instead he made a par-five and won the tournament. It was a sign of maturity - it might be a major championship the next time he finds himself in that position - and he did the right thing."

But fellow pundit Pugh argued that while Scott will win many more tournaments, he might never have chance to hit a 59 again.

Go for it

Pugh said: "He could have gone for it and I think he could have pulled it off because he's that good a player.

"But it's a tournament and his caddie will have been nagging at him to make sure he won the event. He gets paid a lot of money to give good advice - and of course he's interested in the percentage of the prize money that he's going to get!

"Adam Scott is not immune to making mistakes, but I bet that in his heart of hearts he wishes he'd gone for it.

"That tournament is one of many he is going to win, but he won't have many chances to shoot 59.

"But it's very hard to be critical because he's just shot 61."

Golf Night presenter Lee agreed, saying: "You aren't going to get many chances to shoot the 59 number, which is an incredible score. Everything has got to go right for you and it nearly did for Adam Scott today.

"We are greedy as golf watchers and golf fans. We want to see records broken and we want to see the unbelievable achieved.

"Arguably he had a shot at it if he'd hit it on the green - or even if he's left himself with a chip he could have holed it. You just don't know."

But Roe insisted that Scott deserves praise for his remarkable score and paid tribute to the Australian, who has moved up to number four in the world after his win.

Roe concluded: "It was sensational, we were saying we want to see the remarkable done - but we've just seen it.

"We're talking about someone shooting a 61 and overtaking a three-shot lead and totally dominating the tournament."