Adam Derek Scott (born 16 July 1980) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has won one major championship, the 2013 Masters Tournament.
After winning the Australian Boys' Amateur in 1997 and 1998, Scott attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he played for the UNLV Rebels until he turned professional in 2000. He soon earned membership on the European Tour and within three years he had won four European Tour events. Aged 23, Scott won the 2004 Players Championship, the flagship event on the PGA Tour, and afterwards played primarily in the United States. He won the Tour Championship in 2006 and rose into the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking. He suffered a slump in 2009 and fell outside the top 50 of the world rankings until winning the Australian Open.
Scott moved back into the top 10 of the world rankings by winning the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and finished runner-up at the 2012 Open Championship. Scott won his first major championship at the 2013 Masters Tournament, making him the first Australian to earn a green jacket. In 2014, he overtook Tiger Woods to reach the number one position in the Official World Golf Ranking, a position he held for 11 weeks. Scott has had enduring success since; as of 2025, he has a total of 32 worldwide wins, including 14 on the PGA Tour. He has also made eleven consecutive appearances for international team at the Presidents Cup from 2003 to 2024.
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Early life
Scott was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 16 July 1980, to Pam and Phil Scott. Phil was introduced to golf at age 14 while visiting his relatives in Wales. He played alongside a cousin at Ashburnham Golf Club in Burry Port and continued to play golf when he returned to Australia. Phil had aspired to become a professional golfer, but suffered a career-ending injury while riding a motorbike aged 19. He then became a club professional and later a golf course designer. He introduced Adam to the game at a young age by giving him a plastic set of clubs, and regularly took him to the North Adelaide Par-3 course.
Scott attended the Lady George Kindergarten in Adelaide and moved with his family at the age of nine to Sunshine Coast, Queensland, where he attended Matthew Flinders Anglican College. They then settled on the Gold Coast, Queensland in 1993 when Scott was 12 years of age. Initially at The Southport School, an Anglican boys' school on the Gold Coast, he completed his high school education at The Kooralbyn International School, located in the Gold Coast hinterland, where he undertook extra subjects in golf. Alongside golf, Scott played football, cricket, handball, and tennis during his youth. He was selected as a member of the Golf Australia National Squad. Scott was coached by his father until age 19, when he began to work with Butch Harmon.
Amateur career
Scott won the Australian Boys' Amateur in 1997 and 1998. He was also a member of the Golf Australia National Squad. Scott later attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in the United States, where he played for the UNLV Rebels golf team. Scott stated that he chose to attend UNLV because he was impressed by the school's brochure, stating: "I literally picked the one with the best‑looking prospectus, and that was UNLV. They had a really beautiful glossy magazine about their golf program. I didn't visit or anything, so I didn't really know." At UNLV, he was teammates with future PGA Tour player Charley Hoffman, who mentored him.
Professional career
European Tour
Scott turned professional midway through the 2000 season. He earned his card for the 2001 European Tour season in just eight starts as a professional, his best result being a tie for sixth at the Linde German Masters. Scott also made a handful of appearances on the PGA Tour but made only one cut in six events.
In Scott's first full year as a professional golfer he won the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa for his first professional title. This event was Scott's first start of the year and was co-sanctioned by the European and Sunshine Tours. He beat Justin Rose to the title by one stroke. Scott had three other top-3 finishes throughout the season and went on to finish 13th in the Order of Merit in his first season.
The following year in 2002, Scott had two victories on the European Tour and a final position of seventh on the Order of Merit. His first win of the year was a six-shot victory at the Qatar Masters. Later in the year, Scott won the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship, shooting a final round of 63 to win by ten shots. In between these victories, Scott made his debut at the Masters Tournament, where he finished tied for 9th.
In 2003, Scott made it to the semifinals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, but fell to eventual champion Tiger Woods on the 19th hole. He had previously beaten Bernhard Langer, Rocco Mediate, Kevin Sutherland, and Jay Haas en route to the semis, then defeated fellow Australian Peter Lonard 1 up in the consolation match. In August 2003, Scott won his fourth European Tour title at the Scandinavian Masters by two strokes over Nick Dougherty. A month later he followed it up with his first victory on the PGA Tour at the inaugural Deutsche Bank Championship. The win came in his 34th career start on the PGA Tour. He shot a course record 62 in the second round to lead by two at the halfway stage and went on to win by four from Rocco Mediate. At the end of the year he made his first appearance on the International team at the Presidents Cup in South Africa, contributing three points out of five, en route to a 17–17 tie.
Scott won the flagship event of the tour, The Players Championship; He had a two-stroke lead on the 72nd tee, but found the water hazard with his approach to the green. However, he sealed the title with a 40-yard up and down, which included a ten-footer for bogey to win by a shot over runner-up Pádraig Harrington. He became the youngest winner of The Players Championship at 23 years old. Three months later, Scott collected this third PGA Tour win, with victory at the Booz Allen Classic. He equalled the tournament total record at 21-under-par to win by four from Charles Howell III.
PGA Tour
Scott played less frequently on the European Tour from 2006 onwards, focusing more on the PGA Tour. He had a successful year, recording one victory alongside three runners up finishes and three-third places. He finished tied third at the PGA Championship, which was his best showing at a major championship. He then went on later in the year to finish tied second at the WGC-American Express Championship, finishing eight strokes behind Tiger Woods. At the end of the year, Scott won the season-ending Tour Championship by three strokes for his fourth career PGA Tour win and finished third on the PGA Tour money list for 2006.
The 2007 season started for Scott with a second-place finish at the season opening Mercedes Benz Championship in Hawaii behind Vijay Singh. After this, Scott reached his career high ranking of world number three. He then won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour, the week before the Masters, at the Shell Houston Open. After hitting his tee shot into the water on the 72nd hole, he made a 48-foot par putt to seal a three stroke victory over Stuart Appleby and Bubba Watson. He then played consistently for the rest of the year, qualifying for all four FedEx Cup playoff events and finishing 10th in the final standings.
In 2008, he played enough events on the European Tour to qualify for playing on the Order of Merit for the first time since 2005. Scott endured a somewhat difficult season in 2008 with injury and illness, but he managed to win once on each tour. In January 2008 he started off the year in fine style by winning his sixth career title on the European Tour at the Qatar Masters. Scott carded a 11-under-par final round of 61, which was both a course record and personal best round. He started his final round three shots behind the overnight leader and won the tournament by finishing three shots ahead of Henrik Stenson.
In April 2008, Scott won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in a playoff against Ryan Moore. Scott holed a nine-foot putt to make the playoff on the 72nd hole. The playoff started with Moore and Scott making pars on the first two extra holes before Scott holed a dramatic 48-foot birdie putt at the third extra hole for the victory. At the 2008 U.S. Open, World No. 1 Tiger Woods, World No. 2 Phil Mickelson and World No. 3 Scott were all paired together in the first two rounds of the tournament. Woods won in a playoff, Mickelson finished in 18th, and Scott finished in 26th. He ended the year 39th on the money list. Scott's form dipped badly in 2009 as he dropped out of the top 50 in the world rankings and finished the year outside of the top 100 on the PGA Tour money list. He finished 108th on the money list which is his worst ever placing in his career. In 19 events on the PGA Tour, he missed the cut 10 times, with his only top 10 finish coming at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. He did however win at the end of year in December at his home championship, the Australian Open, for his first victory on home soil in his career. In 2016 he described this as being one of the most important wins of his career, as it kickstarted his career back in the right direction.
Personal life
Scott bought a home in Sanctuary Cove, Queensland for $2.75 million in 2006. He sold it in 2024 for $5.35 million, but maintained a holiday home in Sunshine Beach. As of 2013, Scott is a resident of Switzerland for tax purposes. He said in 2015 that he spends around 15 weeks a year in Albany, a resort in the Bahamas. Scott stated in 2022 that it was a disadvantage to live in Switzerland while playing on the PGA Tour due to the frequent travel, and said for the 2023 season that he planned to base himself in Florida from March to June.
In 2010, Scott was in a relationship with Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic, but they separated in September of that year. The pair reunited in 2011, before splitting up permanently one year later.
In April 2014, Scott married Marie Kojzar, a Swedish architect, in a small ceremony in the Bahamas. Scott and Kojzar had previously been in a long-term relationship in the early to mid-2000s, before splitting up and then reuniting in 2013. In 2015, the couple had their first child, a daughter who was born at Pindara Private Hospital in Queensland, Australia.
Their second child, a son, was born in 2017.
Awards and honors
In June 2022, Scott was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to golf at the elite level".
Professional wins (33)
PGA Tour wins (14)
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)
European Tour wins (11)
1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
3Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (1–0)
Asian Tour wins (4)
1Co-sanctioned by European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
Asian Tour playoff record (1–0)
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (6)
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
3Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–3)
Other wins (5)
Other playoff record (1–1)
Major championships
Wins (1)
1Defeated Cabrera in a sudden-death playoff: Scott (4-3), Cabrera (4-4).
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 17 (2011 Open – 2015 Open)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (six times)
The Players Championship
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.
Team appearances
World Cup (representing Australia): 2001, 2002, 2013 (winners), 2016
Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2003 (tie), 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2026