Scott plans to bring Down Under flavor to Champions Dinner

GOLD COAST, Australia – For all the emotion Adam Scott showed when he won the Masters Tournament and all the fun he’s had sporting the green jacket, the tastiest fruits of his Masters bounty still lie ahead.

“All of the greatest stuff about winning the Masters is yet to come,” Scott said this week as he makes his homecoming at the Australian PGA Championship. “I really believe that for me, I think all of the stuff that I’ll personally enjoy the most is yet to come. Going back (to Augusta), going to the dinner, being up in the Champions Locker Room with legends of the game but also some of my friends who’ve won it, too – I think it is going to be an incredible experience for the rest of my life.”

The biggest order of business upon his return in April will be playing host to the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night before the tournament. Masters winners have survived exotic fare through the years such as haggis and monkey gland sauce, so perhaps “dog’s eye and dead horse” or Moreton Bay Bugs on the menu won’t be too much of a shock to the system.

Scott hasn’t finalized the menu he’ll serve in April, but the first Australian winner in the history of the tournament promises to bring a Down Under flare to the evening.

“There’s going to be a pretty strong Australian theme to this dinner,” Scott said on the eve of the Aussie PGA in his home state of Queensland. “I’m going to serve up stuff that hopefully everyone will enjoy but I haven’t got too far into exactly what is happening.”

One thing that probably won’t make it to the table is vegemite – the popular Australian spreadable brown paste that commonly makes it onto toast or sandwiches. It’s on the bitter side, so a thin smear is recommended.

“I don’t think I can serve Arnold Palmer vegemite on toast,” Scott said with a laugh. “I’d like to for the laugh but I’m not sure I’m going to do that. I have a little respect for those guys and everything.”

Australia doesn’t really have a recognizable national cuisine, but meat pies would be the most ubiquitous item akin to a hot dog in America. In the traditional rhyming slang of the nation, the locals would call a meat pie with sauce a “dog’s eye and dead horse.”

“I don’t know that I can get away with serving meat pies unfortunately,” Scott told cocktail guests at a function held by Tourism and Events Queensland. “But I will definitely get something from Queensland and the rest will be Australian as well.”

While there is no shortage of quality grain-fed beef in Australia – including Wagyu and Cape Grim – it’s a seafood item from the waters off Brisbane that has the best chance of finding its way to Augusta.

Moreton Bay Bugs – a crustacean that falls somewhere between a crayfish and a lobster – is a favored local delicacy.

“I think Moreton Bay Bugs are definitely going to get a run, they’re my favorite,” Scott said.

The only thing Scott will guarantee is a prime assortment of Australian wines such as a shiraz or Sauvignon blanc.

“Definitely there’s going to be some good wines because we have some good wines in Australia,” he said. “They have that to look forward to at the very least.”

Scott has already made the traditional donation of a club used in his victory to the Augusta National Golf Club archives, but it’s not one that might require constructing a special display case.

Despite becoming the only player to win a green jacket using a long putter – making unforgettable putts on the 72nd hole and the clincher on the 10th green in the playoff – it was his Titleist driver that got left behind for posterity. The putter is still in Scott’s bag – probably through 2015 before the use of anchored clubs becomes illegal in 2016.

“I really should’ve (given them the putter),” Scott admitted. “I’ve given them the driver because it was kind of hard to part ways with the putter that I’d just won the Masters with – as much as I would like to put the putter in there.

“Maybe I’ll switch it out (one day). But I’ve given them the driver because I thought I drove it so well as well, especially on 18 in the playoff. But the putter would have been cool to give them. I’m still using that same one. Maybe when it gets a rest it might get there.”

By then, Scott will have had two more chances to win at Augusta with his broomstick putter before either retiring it or learning how to use it without holding it against his chest.

If he keeps winning green jackets, they can eventually use it to spread the vegemite on toast.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219

or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.