2013 Masters champion, Adam Scott, has played down talk that the 2017 edition is Dustin Johnson’s to lose, with the world number one in fine form.
READ: Spieth tips Johnson for The Masters
‘It’s far from that at this point,’ Scott said in Houston, where he is finishing his preparation at the Shell Houston Open for the year’s first Major.
Johnson is the bookies’ favourite, after winning in his last three starts, but the 36-year-old Australian doesn’t think the world’s best player at the moment will have an easy ride at Augusta.
‘You know, the game changes so quickly with this stuff. Back in January everyone would have had Hideki and Justin Thomas win the tournament. Now clearly Dustin is playing better. There’s this group of players, I don’t know the number we’ll put on it, 10, 15 guys who if they play really well, can control the golf tournament.
‘You kind of look at Jordan, Rory McIlroy is No 2 in the world. You can’t just breeze past him. He’s won four Major championships. He would win the Career Slam if he wins. He’s got to be incredibly motivated.’
Scott, like many other tour pros, is not surprised by Johnson’s form or rise to the top of the rankings.
‘I’m not really surprised because we’ve known he’s kind of the whole package for a long time. And I don’t know exactly what he’s done to put it all together, but occasionally we do that as golfers. And, you know, to be able to keep it going is the hardest thing, and so far he’s on a three-tournament winning stretch, and that’s pretty impressive. Not many guys win three in a row. We’ll see if he keeps it going. Obviously he’s got to be feeling incredibly confident. That’s a great place to be.’
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson agrees.
‘He’s been a very strong player for many, many years. He’s obviously upped his game and got it — he’s in a good place at the moment, feeling confident and playing some great golf,’ said Stenson.
‘So, rightfully he’s the No 1 player — No 1 player in the world at the time and, yeah, it’s always fun to see when someone gets on a run like that and getting their game together and playing — I bet you if you ask him, he feels the game of golf is pretty easy at the moment. It’s good fun to see. And the rest of us, we’re going to try hard to get in the same place and try to challenge him.’
