ADAM SCOTT of Australia plays his shot from the eighth tee during the Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Picture: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Adam Scott hopes a return to a golf course where he once defeated Tiger Woods can inspire a drought-breaking US PGA Tour victory as he tries to avoid a third-straight winless season.
This week's Northern Trust tournament at Liberty National in New Jersey starts the three-event $US78 million FedEx Cup play-offs series which concludes the season.
Winless worldwide since March 2016, Scott has never gone three consecutive seasons without claiming a victory since he joined the US PGA Tour in 2003.
The former world No.1 has compiled an impressive 2018/19 season - highlighted by two runner-ups among six top 10s - but has yet to lift a trophy.
That's a source of motivation for Scott at Liberty National, where he won the opening playoffs event, previously named The Barclays, in 2013 by a shot from Woods and three others.
"You never deserve win, but I want to win badly," Scott told AAP at Liberty National, an exclusive club on the banks of New York's Hudson River with views of the Manhattan skyline.
"I've played a lot of good golf this year. But I have got the least out of my good golf; I have had a few poor finishes when I was in contention in the big events."
The 13-time PGA Tour winner has indeed been luckless this year.
Scott's two second-place finishes came against record-setting wins by Justin Rose at Torrey Pines and Patrick Cantlay at the Memorial Tournament.
In both events, Scott's 72-hole score would have been enough to win at least the previous eight editions.
He firmly believing a win is around the corner.
"This has been my best golf since (a two-win) 2016 (season)," Scott said.
"There is a lot to play for; the play-offs are three big weeks where you can make a huge move on FedEx standings."
Scott's 2013 win was the last official PGA Tour event held at Liberty National.
"Liberty National is a good course for me; it's a bit like a resort course and I grew up on a lot of them in Queensland," he said of the 2017 Presidents Cup venue."
A victory for Scott would also lift a lean year for Australians on the US PGA Tour.
No Australian has won in 2019, although Marc Leishman's CIMB Classic victory in October was during the early part of the tour's wraparound season.
However, Australia does have a healthy representation in the play-offs with Scott joined by Leishman, Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Aaron Baddeley and Matt Jones.
The six-strong contingent is up by two players from last year.
The $US9.25 million Northern Trust features the top 125 finishers on the FedEx Cup standings from the regular season.
