Adam Scott focused on start

With top-10 finishes in his past two Masters Tournament appearances, Adam Scott is hoping to get off to a positive start this year.

“I’ve think I’ve said here in the past the first six or seven holes are probably the most difficult to play on this golf course starting out on Thursday with the nerves on the first tee and then getting yourself to calm down and they are very demanding holes on the first seven,” Scott said. “Getting off to a solid first seven holes is very important. You just play your way through that and you just set yourself up for good opportunities on this golf course.”

Scott had a shot at winning in 2011, finishing tied for second two shots back after Charl Schwartzel birdied the final four holes.

“There was not much else for me to do other than birdie the last four holes, also like Charl did,” Scott said. “I feel like – I’ve watched a lot of Masters, seen a lot of finishes, when you’re a one-shot lead on 17 and you make two 4s, that usually puts you somewhere in a playoff or maybe win, but I wasn’t even close.”

Scott had a British Open in his sights in 2012 before bogeying the final four holes to finish one shot behind Ernie Els. Both experiences have made an impression.

“I don’t want to lose anymore, but it’s inevitable if you contend in a lot,” Scott said. “You see that with everyone, but you’d like to win more than you lose but the first one that I really had my hands on, I let it go, so that will be something that I’ll never want to do again.”

Scott has spent time searching for what works to produce better results, and he feels confident about where he is.

“A couple of times I felt like I executed well enough to win, and didn’t, and that could be golf or that could be something else that I haven’t quite got yet, I don’t know,” Scott said. “But I’d like to think that I’m doing the right things and I’m going to get myself in that position again a couple of times this year in the big ones and hopefully get over the line.”