Australian Adam Scott was in the outright lead at the Australian Open, a stunning feat given he had started the day five shots behind the frontrunners.
Yet it took just one moment for everything to change for Scott, who admitted to having “paid the ultimate price” after an errant tee shot on the par-4 seventh on Sunday.
Scott, who ended up finishing the tournament sitting on 11-under — just three strokes behind eventual leaders Joaquin Niemann and Rikuya Hoshino — looked on the verge of something special.
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For a second he looked like he gave himself a moment to believe it was all possible, fist pumping as he made birdie after birdie — eight on the day to be exact.
The sixth one put him in the outright lead. But then came disaster as Scott’s seventh hole tee shot sprayed left and was eventually ruled to be out of bounds.
It was all that Scott needed to fall out of contention, with the triple bogey cruelling what had otherwise been a stellar day from the Australian.
“It’s tough out there,” Scott said after the day’s play.
“It was even tough early but it got tougher. I was making a lot of birdies and had a couple of bogeys and then unfortunately a bad swing on the worst hole to do it probably. I paid the ultimate price there.
“It’s a shame because it would’ve been great to have a really special round and maybe have a chance sitting in the clubhouse… I played a lot of good stuff out there but one bad one is probably going to cost me.”
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