Given that Blackpool - a lively English town just five miles away - was known for keeping young adults in a festive mood well past midnight, surely the young man was headed for a warm bed and a long sleep.
Not quite.
It turns out Adam Scott was involved in a mission quite the opposite. He was not returning from an all-nighter; he was starting his work day, up with the sun and street-cleaners.
His birthday celebration the previous evening had been as quiet as possible. Boring, actually, although the soundest of reasons was in play.
The young Aussie had a 6am practice round scheduled at Royal Lytham and St. Annes with Tiger Woods and for a young pro golfer with vibrant dreams for his career, this was well worth the 4:45am. wake-up call.
It was The Open Championship, for goodness sakes. The pinnacle in his line of work and thanks to a valuable common denominator both Scott and Woods worked with instructor Butch Harmon back in the day-this opportunity was too good to pass up.
Here's the thing, though. Scott was brand new to this pro golf business and didn't understand how to slip in the back way to Royal Lytham at 5:30am. So by the time he figured things out, it was after the agreed-to starting time and Scott had to hustle meet Woods on the second hole.
"He's young. He'll learn," smiled Woods.
Fast forward 11 years and Scott was now a polished, 32-year-old, winner of 20 tournaments around the world, most notably his beloved 2009 Australian Open and two marquee events on the PGA TOUR the 2004 PLAYERS
Championship and 2006 TOUR Championship. Impeccably graceful, Scott was brilliantly handsome and owned a golf swing that flowed as smoothly as syrup. If there was a glitch, however, it came in the major championship category. The Aussie in 45 major starts had finished top 10 on just seven occasions; more painfully, there had been 15 missed cuts.
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Golfplus Monthly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Golfplus Monthly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
VEER AHLAWAT CONTINUES FINE FORM WITH VICTORY AT NISSAN PRESENTS DELHI-NCR OPEN 2024, EXTENDS LEAD IN TATA STEEL PGTI RANKING
Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat continued his fine form with a flawless last round of six-under 66 to march to a one-shot victory at the INR 1 crore Nissan presents Delhi-NCR Open 2024 played at the Noida Golf Course.
NISSAN AND PGTI JOINTLY LAUNCH
NISSAN PRESENTS CHANDIGARH OPEN 2024 HOSTED BY CHANDIGARH GOLF CLUB
DE ROEY CRUISES TO SECOND LET TITLE
Manon De Roey can now call herself a two-time Ladies European Tour (LET) champion after the Belgian cruised to a four-shot victory at the Investec SA Women's Open.
MAGNUSSON WINS THE 2024 TERRE BLANCHE LADIES OPEN
Sweden's Anna Magnusson stormed her way through the final round to finish nine-under-par and claim her third professional victory.
BROCH ESTRUP, TSAI AND WHITTING DECLARED JOINT WINNERS
Nicole Broch Estrup, Pei-Ying Tsai and Jess Whitting were declared joint winners after the final round of the Australian Women's Classic Presented by Pacific Pay Resort Studios was cancelled.
INSIDE SCOOP ON AUGUSTA MASTERS 2024
We at GolfPlus know that you all must have kept a keen eye on the most anticipated event of the year, the event that players train for and the one that patrons watch without batting an eye.
THE STATS THAT DEFINED THE PGA TOUR IN MARCH
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler dominates with back-to-back wins as Malnati, Jaeger and Eckroat triumph
EAT FOR A HEALTHY HEAD
THE YOGIC SCIENCE OF GOOD MOOD FOOD
HOME FAVOURITE KATSURAGAWA SEALS VICTORY
Yuto Katsuragawa continued a history-making season for players from Japan on the DP World Tour with a three-shot victory on home soil at the ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER WINS THE MASTERS
Scottie Scheffler has won the 88th Masters in a final-nine runaway.