Scott finished a creditable 10th behind American John Merrick, who won the Northern Trust Open at 11 under the card, five ahead of the Australian.
Aware that he may be the best player on tour never to have won a major, Scott has upped his off-season workrate in order to try to score a breakthrough.
While his last tournament was last year’s Australian Open, the Queenslander has been working diligently in preparation for his return to the circuit.
"I’ve played a lot more this break than I did last year so I shouldn’t be too scratchy," Scott told AAP. "I’m feeling great. The work I’ve done, particularly on parts of my short game, I’m looking forward to seeing that in action.
"To jump out of the blocks would be nice for once."
The Australian’s plan was to try to replicate something like the start American Brandt Snedeker has had this season. Already, Snedecker has notched $2.78 million in prize money after a win and two runner-up finishes.
"I’m not looking to feel my way into the year," Scott said. "I need to get going – there is no time for messing around."
Scott has threatened to win a major several times but has been disappointing at the last moment, including a devastating finish at last year’s British Open when he blew a four shot lead with four holes to play.
The world No.7 knows his weaknesses though and says he has been concentrating on eliminating them ahead of the new season.
"I really worked hard on a couple of areas I singled out that I needed to improve on from last year, that I felt should be better," he said.
"I really feel like I had a big breakthrough with my chipping and I’m very excited about that. The focus is being ready for the big events – the four majors and the world events.
"Events like this week are all part of the process of building momentum. You just have to balance everything and the obvious reason I play less is so I still feel competitively fresh during the middle of the year when all the big golf is on and I’m not burned out.
"The results in the last two years give me a lot of confidence in what I’m doing and confidence I can win majors."
Meanwhile, Queenslander Brad Kennedy has won the Queensland PGA Championship at the City Golf Club in Toowoomba.
The highest ranked player in the field, Kennedy claimed victory by two shots from Kiwi Michael Hendry with an 18-under 254.
Finishing in outright third on 14-under the card was New South Welshman Anthony Summers while the leading amateur Cameron Smith finished a shot further behind.
Rounding out the top-5 on 12-under 260 were Tasmanian Ryan McCarthy, Victoria’s Scott Laycock and Rohan Blizard from NSW.
Laycock shot four rounds of 65 to finish 12 under the card and six off the pace.
By: Robert Grant