AUGUSTA, April 4, 2014 (AFP) - So after squandering a last-day lead to lose at Bay Hill when a win would have made him world number one for the first time, the 33-year-old Australian now comes to Augusta National hoping the top ranking spot is also a dream that has been only delayed, not denied.
"If nothing else, it's a good reminder on how much putting practice I need to do for going to the Masters and just how important it is," Scott said.
"If I think back to last year, I made every putt that you expect to in that last round and ultimately that's maybe what gave me the chance to win."
Scott became the first Aussie to capture the green jacket symbolic of Masters supremacy when he sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Angel Cabrera last April, achieving a dream that narrowly escaped his boyhood idol, Greg Norman, numerous times.
Now the Adelaide-born defending champion will try to become the first repeat Masters winner since Tiger Woods in 2002. The only others to achieve the feat were Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo.
"I feel like this should be the peak time in my career," Scott said. "I have got to create these chances more often and I've got to take them more often than I have. I've got to start closing at a better rate than ever before. So I'm very hungry."
And while Scott failed to dethrone 14-time major champion Woods from the top spot by winning at Bay Hill, it's clear with Woods absent following surgery for a pinched nerve in his back, and Scott playing solidly, claiming the top spot might be, as was winning a major after a heart-breaking near miss, only a matter of time.
"I take a lot of positive stuff out of it," Scott said. "I somewhat achieved what I wanted. It was good to be back in the mix.
"My short game just wasn't there (in the last round) so that needs to be tightened up and probably shows that I need to do a bit more work on it to hold up under the pressure."
Learning that lesson at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was humbling, but better there than at Augusta National.
"Everyone is just excited to go," Scott said. "We don't know what it's going to hold and it always produces something.
"It will be exciting for me going there feeling like I'm playing pretty good. Who knows what can happen again?"
As Scott prepared to challenge the legendary undulating greens at Augusta National, he pondered how he handled reading greens under pressure at Bay Hill with the top ranking at stake.
"After missing a couple putts over the last couple of days, doubts creep into your reads," Scott said. "You need to be certain and I just wasn't 100 percent on."
Scott led by a tournament-record seven strokes at Bay Hill after 36 holes, having made several putts from beyond 20 feet, and he led by three entering the final round, although he was level with eventual winner Matt Every by the time he made the turn on Sunday.
It was the second painful 54-hole edge Scott had squandered in the past few months, also losing the Australian Open late last year when he led by four as the last round began.
"I need to do a little more work on my putting because the last couple of times in this position it has not been as sharp as I would like," Scott said.
"It was nice the first couple of days but it's a different story when you've got to hit a lot of six- and 10-footers with the pressure on.
"I'm taking confidence anyway from just some good play, but some opportunities you have got to take."