HOYLAKE, England -- Adam Scott has won the Masters, and nobody can ever rip that green jacket off his broad shoulders. But the popular notion that Scott's triumph at Augusta National in 2013 effectively erased his Open Championship meltdown in 2012 does not hold up against the standards of common sense.
Scott held a 4-shot lead with four holes to play at Royal Lytham and then gift wrapped the Open to Ernie Els with a bogey-bogey-bogey-bogey finish. Fair or not, that bogeyman will remain in Scott's closet (right next to that green jacket) until he wins golf's oldest major.
Assuming he wins golf's oldest major, of course.
On Tuesday, when asked if he owns the requisite skill set to win an Open, Scott said, "I think I've got it. I think Lytham was the proving [ground] to me that I've got what it takes to win."
But really, until a man wins an Open Championship, he doesn't know for sure that he has the game and the nerve to pull it off. At Muirfield last year, third-round leader Lee Westwood swore he knew how to win a big one, then went ahead and proved Sunday that he most certainly did not.
Scott blew his own chance to close out the Open at Muirfield, swinging wide the door for Phil Mickelson's stunning breakthrough. And so here the world's top-ranked player stands after Round 1 at Royal Liverpool, only 2 shots off Rory McIlroy's 6-under lead while hoping he doesn't suffer the indignity of a third straight near miss.
Scott arrived in Hoylake a week ago Thursday to study the course from head to toe. In fact, he's been here so long that he's about to be taxed at a resident's rate. He said he adores the place.
"Every aspect of it is perfect," Scott gushed. "It's incredible, really."
After he completed his first 18 holes at Royal Liverpool, an afternoon round, Scott said the wind kicked up late and made the conditions tougher than they were for the morning guys. But no, he wasn't complaining.
"It's a good start," he said of his 68. "I've got a long way to go, 36 holes to put myself in position. So I'll just be grinding the next two days. If I keep swinging well, I think I'll give myself enough chances to be there. ... I've kind of got to make it happen when I'm playing good at the moment."
Can he make it happen? Sure, he's got the talent.
We'll find out over the next three days if he has the poise he didn't have at Lytham over those fatal four holes.