SCOTT STILL PURSUING SILVERWARE AND JACKETS 20 YEARS ON FROM MAIDEN PGA TOUR VICTORY

Given that the youngster had just celebrated his 21st birthday, it didn't seem out of the ordinary to see him at the break of dawn, getting chauffeured around the streets of Lytham St. Annes on a Tuesday July morning some 22 years ago.

- Jim McCabe

Given that Blackpool - a lively English town just five miles away - was known for keeping young adults in a festive mood well past midnight, surely the young man was headed for a warm bed and a long sleep.

Not quite.

It turns out Adam Scott was involved in a mission quite the opposite. He was not returning from an all-nighter; he was starting his work day, up with the sun and street-cleaners.

His birthday celebration the previous evening had been as quiet as possible. Boring, actually, although the soundest of reasons was in play.

The young Aussie had a 6am practice round scheduled at Royal Lytham and St. Annes with Tiger Woods and for a young pro golfer with vibrant dreams for his career, this was well worth the 4:45am. wake-up call.

It was The Open Championship, for goodness sakes. The pinnacle in his line of work and thanks to a valuable common denominator both Scott and Woods worked with instructor Butch Harmon back in the day-this opportunity was too good to pass up.

Here's the thing, though. Scott was brand new to this pro golf business and didn't understand how to slip in the back way to Royal Lytham at 5:30am. So by the time he figured things out, it was after the agreed-to starting time and Scott had to hustle meet Woods on the second hole.

"He's young. He'll learn," smiled Woods.

Fast forward 11 years and Scott was now a polished, 32-year-old, winner of 20 tournaments around the world, most notably his beloved 2009 Australian Open and two marquee events on the PGA TOUR the 2004 PLAYERS

Championship and 2006 TOUR Championship. Impeccably graceful, Scott was brilliantly handsome and owned a golf swing that flowed as smoothly as syrup. If there was a glitch, however, it came in the major championship category. The Aussie in 45 major starts had finished top 10 on just seven occasions; more painfully, there had been 15 missed cuts.