IT is a game that breaks the strongest of wills, but professional golfers can be consoled that a shot at redemption is at their fingertips.

It is why Adam Scott could face the media yesterday with a gentle smile born of a deep feeling of satisfaction.

The 33-year-old Australian has a recent Open history that should bring a wince to his face but the intervening months since his collapse at Royal Lytham last year have included a victory march at Augusta.

Scott will never forget losing a four-stroke lead over the last four holes of the Open, but he can reflect on that sporting catastrophe with the philosophical air of a man who has been forged by disappointment rather than destroyed by it.

By winning the Masters this year in a play-off with Angel Cabrero, Scott became the first Australian to win at Augusta and, more crucially, overcame any doubts about his ability to withstand the pressure of being in contention at a major.

The biggest lesson was learned at Lytham, where four successive bogeys saw Scott slip one behind Ernie Els. The South African later said that many players would not have been able to overcome such a disappointment. Scott, though, has maintained his good form and is now a strong contender for the top prize at Muirfield.

What did he learn from that overcast Sunday in Lancashire, when the Open slipped from his hands?

"Overall, you have to be tough coming down the stretch and I wasn't tough enough that day," he said. "A four-shot lead is not enough if you're not going to be tough. Even if you are tough, four shots can only just get you over the line."

Scott said he had received advice from Tom Watson, almost incredibly once labelled a choker early in his career before compiling eight major victories. "I played a practice round with him at the Australian Open last year and he waited seven holes to bring up what happened at the Open," said Scott. The younger golfer told the great man what he thought had happened.

"He said that he had let one slip early in his career and he had told himself he would never let that happen again," said Scott. "He would just be tough and want it so badly. And sometimes maybe that has to happen for you to realise that. Coming from him I took it to heart."

Scott had the opportunity to put words into action as he moved into contention at Augusta. "I felt I played tough, especially in the play-off, because no-one's going to give you a major."

Scott has spent the last week at Muirfield, plotting his way around a course that requires a strategy beyond blasting a driver and then hitting an iron to the green. He conceded that his poor results in a series of majors had convinced him he had to change his preparation. He now focuses on majors, coming to the courses early.

"I want to feel comfortable when I am on every tee throughout the week and in any condition. The more I play the course, the more I feel that way."

He is practising more diligently, too, because he feels that his game needs to be honed to withstand the rigours of an Open weekend. "I play a little less, I practise a little more," he said of his regime leading up to a grand slam.

He believes that his upbringing on and off the course allowed him to absorb the blow of Lytham. "It's hard to console somebody," said Scott, almost talking of himself in the third person. But he was precise on what started the healing.

"I think it is all the good advice and guidance that I've been given on how to handle playing a professional sport or handle just being a person and having a decent perspective on that. Somehow that turned me into taking Lytham as a positive," he said.

"It just pushed me harder to try to get across the line in a major."

The Masters has been won in the interim, but the dark days of Lytham could be banished forever by victory in the sun of East Lothian.