Scott: Not yet HOFer, but hopeful of ‘Byron’ legacy

Adam Scott offered a frank response when asked if he currently considered himself worthy of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“I don’t,” he told Golf Channel’s George Savaricas during a visit to the announcers’ booth during Round 1 of the Zozo Championship.

“I mean, you’re probably your own harshest critic, but I really feel like a multiple major winner can get into the Hall of Fame.”

Scott’s lone major triumph came in the 2013 Masters Tournament, in a playoff over Angel Cabrera. The 43-year-old Aussie has eight additional top-5 finishes in majors, but no titles.

He does, however, have 14 PGA Tour victories, including his green jacket, a Players, two WGCs and a Tour Championship, to go along with a host of other worldwide wins on the DP World, Asian and Australasian tours. He was also ranked No. 1 in the world in 2014. (By comparison, WGHOF member Fred Couples won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including a Masters and two Players, and was ranked No. 1.)

Still, Scott believes more is needed for enshrinement and that there is still time.

“I might be voting myself out of it by saying this, but I feel like if I’d won another major championship and, if I do, then maybe I could put myself in the Hall of Fame,” said Scott, whose most recent Tour win came at Riviera in 2020.

He opened the Zozo in even-par 70 and is six off the lead in Japan.

Outside of just his competitive legacy, though, Scott offered an even more important way in which he hoped to eventually be remembered.

“I’m a bit of a historian on these things. I like looking back and thinking about a guy like Byron Nelson, who’s considered a gentleman of the sport and also a great champion,” Scott said.

“Maybe if I could win a couple more big events and behave myself for a few more years, I could be seen in a similar kind of light. Maybe not as the champion Byron was, but certainly of my generation.”