Nothing ordinary about Scott's run of late

EDISON, N.J. - With the way Adam Scott has been playing lately, it wasn't surprising the Australian used the word "ordinary" to describe his eagle at the par-5 16th hole in Thursday's first-round of the Barclays.

A purely hit 3-iron from 253 yards set up a six-footer for eagle that Scott drained, highlighting a five-under-par 31 front nine in which he carded five birdies, too. Her shot even-par 35 on his back nine (the front at Plainfield CC) to finish with a 66.

Ordinary? Extraordinary, maybe.

A win in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club three weeks ago, and three top-10s in his last four tournaments (including a T-6 at the PGA Championship), has Scott on top of his game and contending at the Barclays after a wet and soggy first round.

"I've been confident all year," said Scott, who sits two behind Harrison Frazar, who shot a 7-under-par 64. "I felt my game was in a good place starting the year and I had a good routine going. I've just been working at."

Thursday's start to the FedEx Cup Playoffs may have been nothing close to ordinary, with a two-hour, 40 minute rain delay and a state of emergency declared in the Garden State complicating things for tournament officials. But Scott made it look easy playing the back nine, parring only one hole in that stretch.

Scott nearly eagled again on the 285-yard, par-4 18th hole that has everyone looking forward to a crazy finish during the final round, whenever that may be. Scott's tee shot finished only nine feet from the flagstick, but he left the eagle effort a foot short.

Coming out after the rain delay to play the remaining nine holes, Scott couldn't seem to pick up the speed of the greens, missing three straight birdie opportunities on holes six through eight. He shook his head slowly after missing putts at Nos. 1 and 2.

"It was more the variance in pace that made them a little tricky today," Scott said. "It was just tough today, because they changed pace obviously after the rain, and I even think this morning, they were not as fast as maybe the practice round or the pro-am. So it took a bit of adjusting to that."

Still, he was comfortable sitting two shots down after the crazy start to the FedEx Cup playoffs, even though he left a couple shots on the course after the rain delay.

"I was liking the way I was seeing the course going as it firmed up for this morning's round. It was looking real good," he said. "It will be interesting to see how the rest of the week pans out for a lot of reasons, but very happy to start this way."

-- Stephen Hennessey