Adam Scott: how similar is my swing to Tiger's? See for yourself …

Before I started working with Butch Harmon during my freshman year at UNLV in 1999, my father had been my only coach. He set me up with great fundamentals. When I was playing junior golf in Australia, everybody was trying to swing like Tiger Woods, and I was no different. When I got to Las Vegas, Butch knew just where to start with me.

I've been working on the same elements in my swing since I was a college player. My goal is to keep my swing as short and as wide as possible. My rhythm is much better when I can do that consistently. My big problem is that I hang back a little bit at impact. Butch is helping me get fully onto my left side so I can stay on top of the ball. When I do it right, I'm much more accurate with the driver.

Whatever I'm working on, I like to keep one swing thought in my head when I'm on the course. Keeping it simple helped me at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston last year. Thinking only about getting to my left side, I shot 62 Friday and won my first PGA Tour event.

Age: 23 Height: 6-feet Weight: 170 Driver: Titleist 983K, 8.5 degrees loft Clubhead speed: 121 mph Ball speed: 170 mph Launch angle: 12 degrees 2003 Driving distance: 299.2 yards

Cutting Edge

ANALYSIS BY BUTCH HARMON GOLF DIGEST TEACHING PROFESSIONAL with Matthew Rudy Photographs by Stephen Szurlej

People have always talked about how similar Adam Scott and Tiger Woods look when they swing, and they think I somehow tried to recreate Tiger's swing with Adam. That's just not true. When Adam came to UNLV from Australia in 1999, he was already swinging this way. They have similar builds, and they can do the same kinds of things athletically. I saw Adam and said to myself, "Wow, this looks familiar ..."

Physically, Adam is not quite as strong as Tiger, but it's close. He's a good 6-feet and has broad shoulders. I wanted him to be able to utilize those physical capabilities. If he has a fault, it's that he sometimes lets his left arm get too far away from his body during the backswing. When he gets that separation, he's wasting power. And if he gets too aggressive with it, he has the same problem Tiger does--his lower body gets too active and his hands get trapped behind his body. Otherwise, his swing is so good that it's hard to even say anything about it. He looks great in these pictures.

Adam has a very modern swing. He's very flexible, and he makes a huge shoulder turn with a small hip turn--which generates a ton of torque. He changed his body to be able to handle this swing. He's much more muscular than he was as a college player.

We haven't really seen how good Scotty can be. We've seen some flashes of brilliance, but I believe he's on the verge of breaking out. It's exciting to watch.

#1 Butch Harmon America's 50 Greatest Teachers

Harmon School of Golf at Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nev. He works with Darren Clarke, Justin Leonard and Fred Couples, among other tour players.

Butch Harmon compares the game's two most athletic swings

Scott vs. Woods

Every time Adam Scott comes to see me, he looks at Tiger's swing from a practice round at St. Andrews in 2000--when I think Tiger was swinging his best. He cues up a tape of that swing and tries to mimic it. Ironically, Tiger should probably look at tape of Adam's swing now, because at this point in time, Adam is in better positions, especially at impact.

The two setups are very similar. Adam tends to play the ball a bit more forward than Tiger does. It's remarkable how similar their builds are. They're two of the most athletic players on tour.

Tiger has a bit more width than Adam does here. Adam has improved this part of his swing a lot. He's not letting his arms separate too far from his body. He's a little longer and a lot straighter now.

These positions are very similar as well. Adam gets his hands slightly higher--you can see it if you draw a line from each player's head to the hands. They both have little hip turn and a big, big shoulder turn.

This is where you can see a real difference. Tiger's legs are much more active, and his right arm is more underneath. Adam is more "on top," which means he has to rely less on timing to square the clubface.

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