You might remember the 2013 Masters most by the uncharacteristic reaction from the winner.
Adam Scott lost himself in euphoric celebration — first on the 18th green at Augusta National, where he thought he had captured his first career major championship, then on the 10th green, where he eventually won it, outlasting Angel Cabrera on the second playoff hole.
“When I watch the replay, I don’t even believe that’s me,’’ Scott said in an exclusive interview with The Post leading into this week’s Masters. “It doesn’t feel like that’s me. It’s almost like I’ve been superimposed on the 10th green at Augusta, a place I’ve watched since I was a kid.
“It had obviously been building inside and it had to come out. The frustration had been building up for a long time — and to then pull it off you have to have that kind of release.’’
For Scott, the release symbolized a couple things: finally realizing the lofty potential that has followed his career for more than a decade of unfulfilled promise, and ending what had become an enormous burden of an Australian never winning the country’s most coveted major — after those heartbreaking losses by Greg Norman, the ambassador of Australian golf.
So the guttural reaction by Scott was not only for himself. It was for Norman, his hero and mentor, and all the other Aussies who tried and failed to win a green jacket.
Scott was 6 years old when Larry Mize chipped in to beat Norman in 1987. That, he said, was his first memory of watching the Masters. He was 15 in 1996 when Norman failed to close out a six-shot lead entering the final round and lost to Nick Faldo.
“That was year it was going to happen,’’ Scott said 1996. “I remember watching on my living room floor early Monday morning and it was more disbelief, shock and horror. It was a devastating blow for all the Greg fans — which is all of Australia. It was the culmination of his 20 years of experience at Augusta coming together.’’
That’s why, when Scott spoke to Norman the Monday morning after the Masters last year, “we were bawling our eyes out.’’ Scott thanked Norman for all he had done for him and told him that Green Jacket he just won wasn’t only for himself, but for Norman, too.
Now Scott is ready for more. He’s not sure why it took so long, but he’s asking no questions.
Scott said he has “examined’’ Phil Mickelson’s career, how long it took him to finally break through a win his first major, which came 10 years ago.
“Everyone’s path is different getting to what they want to achieve,’’ Scott said. “What was the trigger for Phil? Maybe it was just his time. Now Phil’s got five majors. Rory McIlroy came out and had two majors at 22. We all think Rory might win a ton more, but he might not win another one. Ernie [Els] went 10 years in between winning [British] Opens. You just can’t script this stuff.’’
In the past two years, Scott has tried to hone in everything about his career, beginning with his focus on winning majors and even with the high-end products he endorses, such as Mercedes.
“I [like] to control my path a little more rather than it being too random and leaving it up to the golfing gods to decide how many tournament or majors I might win.
“I feel like now is my time to achieve what I want. It just so happens I was 32 when I won a major. That’s a lot older that Rory, but hey, it’s two years younger than Phil was when he won his first, and here he is at 44 years old with five majors and he’s had an incredible career.’’
It is the result of Scott’s reinvention, after his career bottomed out in 2010 and 2011, when what he described as a “bad attitude’’ held him back. Now he has become more of a regular on leaderboards in major championships.
That doesn’t mean it has come easy. Scott lost a four-shot lead with four holes to play at the 2012 British Open at Royal Lytham, where Els became an accidental champion of sorts. It was a loss that some close to Scott worried would derail him psychologically.
“There’s a lesson in everything, and absolutely Lytham was a big lesson for me,’’ Scott said. “It was the first time I was in that sort of commanding position at a major, and it was a new experience. Fortunately, I somehow saw the silver lining and took the positive out of it — that I can play well enough to win a major and lead the tournament for most of the week.
“I probably needed that to happen at some point — whether it was as dramatic as Lytham or not — in the lead-up to me finally getting over the hurdle. It just so happened the Masters was that hurdle.’’
Some players do not recover from such devastating defeats.
“I can see how crushing it could have been — and don’t get me wrong, it was a tough one to swallow to wake up Monday morning and not have the Claret Jug, because I felt like it was mine the whole week,’’ Scott said. “I think if it had been another 10 years and I was still trying to win my first major and I lost a four-shot lead, I would have been devastated. But at that point, I honestly believed I was going to give myself more chances, so I didn’t beat myself up.’’
Scott said he believes his best years are in front of him, that last year’s Masters has opened the gate for him to win more majors.
“As we sit here at the moment, I don’t think I can fathom not winning another one,’’ he said. “I don’t expect them to come easy, but at the moment, the way I’m working and playing the way I am, I expect I’ll win more.’’