Players Championship 2026: 'I held her back': Adam Scott tells the hilarious bar story, involving his now wife, from his 2004 Players win
Al Messerschmidt
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — It's hard to believe, but Adam Scott was once just a guy on the PGA Tour. That was a long, long time ago, long before he became known for having one of the prettiest swings in golf and long before he became a Masters champion.
Twenty-two years ago this month, Scott, now a 14-time PGA Tour winner, had just one PGA Tour victory. He was still a young pup with plenty of potential, but not exactly a household name.
Then he won the 2004 Players Championship, and he did so in wildly exciting fashion. Leading by two strokes on the 18th tee on Sunday, the young Aussie found the fairway off the tee and had 213 yards into the green. Then, catastrophe seemingly struck, with Scott hitting a dead pull and immediately making a disgusted face at the ball flight. He knew it was headed for the drink, and he was forced to drop short of the green and needed to get up and down to secure the victory.
Scott did just that, chipping it 10 feet short of the hole and burying the bogey putt to win by one over Padraig Harrington. And just like that, he was on his way to stardom. Three days earlier, though, Scott was humbled in a big way, having just taken the first round lead with a seven-under 65. He recalled the story on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, two decades later.
"I have funny stories from that week," Scott said. "Actually my wife and I were dating at that point, all those years ago. She was here with me. I've told this before, but we had dinner on Thursday night after the first round somewhere across the street there in the shopping complex, and we were sitting at the bar eating and overheard the guys next to us, and he said, 'who is leading this tournament?' And the guy looked at him and said 'some expletive no-name.' And it was me.
"My wife, or girlfriend at the time, was ready to kind of jump in there and let him have it, but I held her back. But it was pretty funny. So it was good to go on and win and maybe get out of the no-name category."
Not only did he get out of the no-name category that week, but he solidified his big-name status by becoming one of the best players in the sport, even reaching World No. 1 in 2014, taking the spot from one Tiger Woods. Over two decades later, he's still a top 50 player in the world. Oh, and he's still with his then girlfriend, now-wife, Marie Kojzar, the ultimate ride-or-die woman.