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Adam Scott laments PGA move after 'poor' display at Australian Open

Adam Scott is pictured at the Australian Open.
Adam Scott has lamented being assigned a series of early tee times at the Australian Open, citing jetlag. Pictures: Getty Images

A somewhat sleep-deprived Adam Scott has lamented a series of particularly early tee times at the Australian Open after landing back on home soil late last week. The former World No.1 finished with one under in his first round, battling back from an early bogey and double-bogey.

Scott has long been renowned for his extensive pre-tee routine at tournaments, typically arriving roughly three hours before he is due to play to warm up. Having been scheduled to get underway at 6am at the Kingston Heath, Scott has been arriving at 3am to warm up, a feat he admits is becoming more and more difficult as he gets older.

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Chasing an elusive second Open crown after winning his first 13 years ago, Scott looked a man on a mission during the second round. The former world No.1 described his one-under first round at Kingston Heath as "disgusting" and wasted little time making amends at Victoria.

Scott collected four birdies in his first 11 holes to surge to five under and into a four-way tie for second. But he later admitted it was far from a comfortable day, even going so far as to describe his play as 'disgusting'.

"I played really poorly and I putted really well. I mean, it kind of makes up for it but when you hit it as bad as that in bad spots, it's hard to have a good score," Scott said. "It's hard to put a finger on it right now. Sometimes it's easier to just say that's golf and move on to tomorrow.

"It's because we tee off early every day here in Australia. Last week it was 6am three days in a row in Queensland and 8am means you're up at five as well, so there hasn't been much sleep with the jetlag coming back last week. And I'm not 25 anymore."

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Victorian David Micheluzzi retains his three-stroke lead midway through the Australian Open second round as Scott ominously hunts him down. After opening with a course-record-equalling seven-under-par 63 at Victoria Golf Club, Micheluzzi cooled somewhat on Friday.

The sandbelt specialist negotiated his front nine at Kingston Heath - the Open's co-hosting course - in one under to move to eight under for the championship. Josh Geary (68) and Haydn Barron (69) were sharing the clubhouse lead at five under, with Deyan Lawson also five under but with six holes of his round remaining.

But while Scott was heading north on the leaderboard, fellow heavyweight Cameron Smith could be headed for the Open exit gates. Smith's second straight one-over round left the tournament favourite hovering one shot below the projected cut line.

"That was pretty rubbish out there today," said the world No.3. "I was just really uncomfortable all day, kind of similar to yesterday. I just couldn't quite hit the ball out the middle of the club face for some reason.

"My mind was a little bit foggy, obviously a little bit tired as well. But I need to play better than that, even when I am tired. It's probably the easiest this place is going to get."

With AAP

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