Presidents Cup: Meet the International team

If anyone should be fired up about the International team’s shortcomings at the Presidents Cup, it’s Adam Scott.

The Australian was a rookie on the 2003 team that tied the U.S., but it’s been all downhill since. Scott’s made every team since ’03 and has no wins to show for it now at age 37.

Ever poised, Scott has not been downtrodden from the lack of success. In fact, the scare the Internationals put into the Americans in 2015 has buoyed his outlook for this weekend.

“I think even though we didn’t win, we made a bit of a statement last year, at least to ourselves and at least to the rest of the international players about how important it is,” Scott is quoted in an article by Golf Channel’s Will Gray. “These guys have been busting it for two years to get on this team, and when you look at Jhonny Vegas or Emiliano (Grillo) and you talk to them, they are so pumped about this week. And that’s refreshing to see.”

Scott got off to a disappointing 0-2-2 start in 2015 before salvaging his event with a 6&5 win against Rickie Fowler in singles.

Coming into this week, Scott hasn’t played a lot of golf, even for his standards.

He’s made just 16 starts in 2017. His previous low was 2000 (as a rookie), 2013 and 2015. He’s in danger of logging just his third calendar year without a win.

His best finish is a T6 at The PLAYERS in May. Still, he’s not far removed from a sparkling 2016 that featured two wins, a runner-up and seven other top-10s.

Scott is still as good as ever striking the ball, posting 19th in strokes gained tee-to-green. If he can keep his short game in order, he’s capable of slowing down the Americans’ elite, but young talent.