He led that championship through 71 holes after opening his campaign with a course record 62. Having hit the perfect tee shot down the middle of the 18th fairway, Scott was in good shape with a one-stroke lead over playing partner Rory McIlroy. A par would force the Northern Irishman into making a birdie to force proceedings into a play-off.

His 8-iron was less than perfect and bounded off the steep slope beside the back right of the huge green. McIlroy, in contrast, hit his second shot to 20 feet and was left with relatively straight, uphill putt. When Scott chipped well passed the hole and left his par saver short, McIlroy rolled his birdie in the front of the cup. Like a thief in the night he had snatched the Stonehaven Cup and robbed Scott of the coveted Australian Triple Crown.

“It still burns a little bit,” Scott said.

“I made an error on the last hole when I couldn’t afford to. Just the way the games goes.

“If I’d hit a pretty average shot to the front of the green and two putted, Rory probably doesn’t make his putt and I win the tournament.

“But, I just slightly pushed the 8 iron and misjudged the wind, it goes over the green into a tough spot, I make a five and the door’s open for Rory and being such a great player, you’ve got to take those breaks when they’re given to you and he knocks it in.

“It was a shame because I’d had such a great run down here, but maybe a good motivator for me this week to get out and try and do it all again.” – Adam Scott.

This year has been an up and down one for the 2013 Masters Champion. He took the PGA Tour by storm early with back-to-back victories at the Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Championship by through the middle of the northern summer his form dropped off.

Still, when you consider he didn’t miss a cut in 20 PGA Tour starts and finished no worse than T8 in four season-ending FedEx Cup events, Scott’s year has been a good one.

Adam Scott in action during the Australian Open Pro-Am. He says he feels good about his game heading into the championship. PHOTO: Matt King/Getty Images.

But he wants to make it even better with a second Australian Open title this week. He also knows victory at Royal Sydney could set him up for a good 2017, just like it did for McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, who both won our national title and had unbelievable seasons the next year.

FIRST ROUND TEE TIMES

“Getting a win at any time is huge for the confidence because even the best players or the guys at the top of the world, they’re not really winning that much compared to how many events they play,” Scott said. “It’s a strange game and that extra confidence a win gives you, it’s huge.

“Those guys (Rory and Jordan) went on and had unbelievable years right after winning here; so you’ve got to take something from that, it’s probably not just coincidence.

“A win … it would set me up for a good year next year. Like I said, I think it would lift me up a little bit, you know, being on such a high early in the year this year, it kind of flattened out a little bit, even though the results were pretty good throughout the year and it would kind of lift me up going into next year, so it would be a nice way to finish off.”

Scott ventured out to Royal Sydney last week for his first look at the course and has spent many hours chipping and putting on the huge greens, which will be running at a quick 11.3 feet on the stimpmeter when the Open starts on Thursday morning.

“I like where my game’s at,” Scott confessed. “I’ve done a fair bit of work the last couple of days around the greens and on the short game, and that’s where I think if that’s sharp enough this week I think that will put me in with a good show.

“The rest of my game feels very solid and I’ve had mostly good scores lately.  I had a couple of shockers, but it happens occasionally. But, there has been a lot of low scores, so hopefully I can run with that momentum this week.”

And as for the grand dame, Royal Sydney, Scott likes how it suits his eye and the good memories of his 62 are still strong.

“It’s a course I feel very comfortable on,” he said. “I feel like I can see all the shots and there’s nothing out there that gives me too many problems.

“I like the way it sets up for me, I just have to execute. That’s the big thing around here, you have to be a little cautious and if you hit it in the right spots and execute to your plan, you give yourself a lot of chances. 

“It’s easy to force it around here a little bit and get into a lot of trouble. Just off the fairway behind some trees, blocks you out from greens and there are a few angles.

“The greens are a little smaller than last time we were here as well, so you’ve got to be in the right spot on some of these fairways.”

Scott’s bid for a redeeming win at Royal Sydney begins at 12.10pm on Thursday.