Adam & Rory Set For Australian Open Weekend Duel

After a second round 65 at Royal Sydney Rory McIlroy has moved to within two shots of leader Adam Scott, reports Martin Blake.

Scott is making his final start of 2013 and attempting to win the Australian triple crown after capturing the Australian Masters and Australian PGA.

Also of note: U.S. Amateur semi-finalist Brady Watt is tied for fifth at six-under par and 15-year-old Ryan Ruffels, who was discussed on this week's State of the Game, also made the cut. Mike Clayton reports on Ruffels' impressive second round 68.

Comments

[Kevin part deux]

Even more impressive...he shot a 67.

[Media driven]

Scott is getting a few gray hairs it appears...all that stress.

[PA PLAYA]

Adam's playing the best golf of his life, but what's gonna happen in a couple of years when the broom is no more??? Same with Keegan and Webb Simpson.

2015 is going to be very interesting for several players. Do they ween themselves off the broomstick gradually or do they use it until the very end?

[BDF]

This is going to be a good Friday night in NS...9pm golf with 2 of the best in the world on a really interesting course. Too bad its -8 C outside...

[DTF]

PA PLAYA....Adam doesn't have any material changes to make. Post 1/1/16 you will see him using the same putter, same stance, same posture, same grip, same stroke...in fact, he may already be in compliance for all you know.

[DTF]

PS...Keegan and Webb, completely different situation. Therein lay one of the many fallacies of the Anchoring Decree.

[metro18]

DTF, The putter will be different - more upright and with a flatter lie angle. The stance will be different - he will have to be more over the ball than now. Grip - maybe same. The stroke because of the aforementioned will be different. Try doing what you suggest - it is very different to the chest anchor.
And... he is very definitely still anchoring right now.
In the meantime - Go Scottie!! Three from three would be very cool.

[David Simmz]

Metro18 - that would be 3 for 4....Scottie failed to prevail in the World Cup

[metro18]

David. No - it would be three from three for the Aussie Tour. Allenby was the last and only (I think) to do it.

[JCM]

exactly metro18...The Australian Grand Slam

[JCM]

Is it just me or do others see the ridiculous posing by McElroy after he hits a tee shot ?

[digsouth]

JCM-- He has always held his finish.

That training aid may still be used by Scott, but I refuse to root for him or any of the other broom boys, and that includes the old goats tour.

I DVRed the third round, and will zoom thru it this AM. Really a nice looking course.

[DTF]

metro, I disagree, don't think he will have change a thing except lift the torso up 1/2", and create a little bit of athletic tension in the left shoulder/pec area. In fact,I suspect he will roll it better with this setup because it promotes rocking of the shoulders and further minimizes the use/muscles of the right hand. Trust me, I may be the foremost expert in the world on the topic and have employed the method with spectacular results! The Anchoring Aesthetic Police are going to be sorely disappointed when Adam goes forward in 2016 with an identical appearance and an identical contraption. In fact, I think more than one belly method player will switch to the broomstick/contraption....ONLY 761 DAYS TO GO!!!

[PA PLAYA]

DTF, if the changes that Adam needs to make to be in compliance with the looming anchoring ban are that simple and easily applicable, then why hasn't he implemented those changes already? Especially if, as you believe, those changes could prove to be an improvement over the current technique? From my own personal discernment via television, he does appear to still be in full anchor-mode.

Not trying to be argumentative... I've maintained a neutral stance on the anchoring debate and do understand both sides of the argument, so I'm not fishing for a response that I really care to challenge further. Just curious, is all.

The sense that I'm getting reminds me of a similar situation that I was in many moons ago, but not quite.

It was during my high school senior year, when I was dating a girl and we both knew that I would be leaving to join the active military that following summer. And we both understood where that all led, as in Brokenheartsville, USA, forever. But that didn't stop me from portraying Michael Douglas nor did it stop her from playing the role of Sharon Stone. We rode that horse til the very end... except only one problem: during that 8 month fling - things escalated. What started as little more than mutual attraction with a FWB type arrangement ended with two lovebirds facing a heartbreaking finality. We attempted to keep things going for a year or so after I left home, but the distance between us would have the final say in the matter.

Anyway... Adam has fallen in love with the anchored broomstick, and I'm fearing a similar fate is in store for him. The longer he waits, the tougher it becomes to walk away from it when the time comes that he must.

Temptation is the mother of all tragedies, in more ways than one.

[nguyenvuminh]

Pa Playa - that's one of the best post I've seen on the pending separation of the anchor putter from their beloved putting style.

[OPGolfer]

He may be changing very soon. He's missed a ton of putts in this fourth round.

[DTF]

PA PLAYA, two thoughts...

1. still 760 days to go, he's under no time pressure whatsoever.

2. your little girlfriend story is in no way analagous to this situation.

Ya'll can bitch and moan and tell me to try it myself and suggest I have no idea what I'm talking about, but you watch, ain't nothin' gonna change with Adam's equipment or style, and some belly guys are going to follow his lead.

Personally I've spent many many hours working on it and can tell you for a fact that I now find the unanchored method to be MORE effective, than anchored.

It's a HUGE kick when some bozo sneers "so whadya gonna do now that your putter is banned"? And I reply, "well the putter is not banned and I'm in compliance already, let's talk about what you know and think about the rule"...

...the conversations are always short because it's immediately apparent (to them) they are c-l-u-e-l-e-s-s. This state of being accounts for 99.8% of golfers...

[DTF]

Make that 99.998%...

[PA PLAYA]

Putting is an individual art form, and what works for some doesn't work for others.

Probably golf's first rule in the technique dept.

[johnnnycz]

@DTF: Those are the same folks who gleefully say "Stroke" when you accidentally knock your ball off the tee on a waggle. Calling them clueless is being kind really.

[Hawkeye]

@DTF: I agree that the method that you describe still takes out the wrist action that is at the core of the yips. But I wonder if pros will find it stable enough to work consistently enough, especially in the wind. Why don't we wait until 2016 to see? Personally, I think Scott could go to a standard-length Bulls Eye putter and still perform as well as he does right now - he isn't putting that great even with the broom, you know!

[PA PLAYA]

Wow. The hatred is just mind boggling...

[metro18]

DTF. The difference between Belly and Chest is way more than a couple of inches. it's a whole new dynamic.

[PA PLAYA]

I won't argue that the adjustment can't be made. And it very well could, in the long term, be used just as effectively as having the putter anchored to the body, but it will require some deliberate work.

I just don't think it will be as simple and seamless as some would otherwise have us to believe. I think if it is that simple of an adjustment - we'll see many of the anchoring players make the transition well before the 2016 deadline.

[UKWendy]

Bummer! I have no view/expert opinion on lengthy putters or how Adam will adjust. I do oppose anchoring though. It seems to me to come under a similar (not same) rule as having to make a stroke when putting, rather than pushing the ball.

[DTF]

metro, ya don't say? All joking aside, I don't think guys like Keegan and Webb have any yip issues so they'll just go to a regular putter but a guy like Freddie, now he's a real candidate for an unanchored broomstick.

As I think about it, how many of the top-100 in the OWGR actually use an anchored putter of any sort?

[DTF]

How many players in the OWGR top-100 anchor?

Anyone?

[metro18]

5 by my count DTF. There are a few who have played with it and have gone back to conventional.
Bradley, Simpson, Els, Clarke and Petterson. I may have missed one or two?

[DTF]

Hmm, 5, seems like a small number for all the hubbub huh?

PA, sure, it will take some adjustment, but I think it will be seamless for Adam because he has 758 days left to make the proper adjustments and practice them!