Whatever chance you thought you had going in instantly evaporates.

At the turn of the century, Tiger Woods’ mere presence at a golf tournament made other players reevaluate their chances of winning, including our very own Adam Scott.

It’s been almost 17 years since Scott turned potential into a maiden PGA TOUR title at the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship and he returns to TPC Boston this week – along with five fellow Aussies – for the opening event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Northern Trust.

As is his custom at the business end of the season – even a truncated one such as this – Woods is in attendance, courtesy in large part due to his victory at the ZOZO Championship in Japan late last year.

When Scott was establishing himself as one of the elite young players in the game Woods had won seven of the past 16 major championships and the ‘Tiger-effect’ was at full force.

“Looking back on it now, it’s hard to remember exactly the influence, attention and intimidation that Tiger drew to golf tournaments but it was significant to every player that was out here,” concedes Scott, the 2013 champion in this event at Liberty National.

“If anyone was playing at that time and they were being honest there’s no doubt he made a big difference.

“I think I would have told myself to come up with a strategy to block out exactly what Tiger was doing and making us all kind of feel slightly inferior to him.”

Scott enters the FedEx Cup playoffs in 36th position courtesy of his victory at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, third of the Aussies behind Marc Leishman (14th) and Cameron Smith (30th) with Jason Day (45th), Matt Jones (86th) and Cameron Davis (91st) chasing a share of the FedEx Cup bounty along with Kiwi Danny Lee.

Tied for 22nd in his tournament return at the US PGA Championship a fortnight ago, the 40-year-old Queenslander has the same career goals that he had at 23 and despite the years quickly passing by still believes they are achievable.

“I never really had Jack Nicklaus’s major record pinned up on my boardroom wall or anything but I always felt like a real legend of the game was a five-time Major Champion and I still feel that’s relevant,” said Scott.

“That’s not to take anything away from players who have won multiple majors and had incredible careers, but you know, there can only be so many legends of the game. You have to draw the line somewhere and that’s what I think about in my head and my goals, and I feel like I want to win multiple majors.

“Five still seems pretty clear to me. That’s a pretty tough goal. I only have a few years to do it but I still think something like that would be fantastic.”

As for the player other players fear today, Scott said no one can compare to Tiger Woods but there is one in particular who makes his presence known on the leaderboard.

“It’s very, very hard to compare anyone to Tiger. There are a lot of incredible players today but only one comes along every once in a while with an influence like Tiger Woods.

“In fairness, Justin Thomas, when his name is on the leaderboard, he seems like a very good closer. I know he’s had a couple close calls, but that’s what happens when you’re up there all the time, you lose a couple. But he’s winning a lot.

“Justin Thomas to me seems like a guy who really has it dialed and is a threat. He can sneak his way up when hasn’t had a great week, or he can dominate a tournament from the get-go, so he’s certainly putting it all together.”

Round 1 tee times (AEST)

PGA TOUR
The Northern Trust
TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts
9.53pm Jason Day, Brendan Steele, Adam Hadwin
10.04pm*            Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer, Dustin Johnson
10.37pm              Matt Jones, Cameron Tringale, Rickie Fowler
2.22am Danny Lee, Mackenzie Hughes, Jim Herman
2.44am*              Adam Scott, Matthew Wolff, Tyler Duncan
2.55am*              Cameron Smith, Viktor Hovland, Ryan Palmer
3.17am*              Cameron Davis, Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Kokrak

Defending champion: Patrick Reed
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1970), David Graham (1976), Wayne Grady (1989), Adam Scott (2013), Jason Day (2015)
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Day
TV schedule: Live 5am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 4am-8am Sunday; Live 2.30am-8.30am Monday on Fox Sports 503.

European Tour
ISPS HANDA Wales Open
The Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales
6.28pm Michael Campbell, Aaron Rai, John Catlin
7.01pm Ryan Fox, Brandon Stone, Wilco Nienaber
8.23pm Jake McLeod, Ugo Coussaud, Ewen Ferguson
11.02pm              Min Woo Lee, Lucas Bjerregaard, Adri Arnaus
11.46pm              Jason Scrivener, Guido Migliozzi, Marcus Kinhult
12.08am              Zach Murray, Ben Evans, Philip Eriksson

Defending champion: Joost Luiten (2014)
Past Aussie winners: Scott Strange (2008)
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Scrivener
TV schedule: Live 10.30pm-12.30am Thursday, 1.30am-4.30am Friday; Live 10.30pm-12.30am Friday, 1.30am-4.30am Saturday; 12pm-2pm Sunday; Live 8.30pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.

Korn Ferry Tour
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
OSU Golf Club (Scarlet Cse), Columbus, Ohio
10.14pm              Curtis Luck, Joshua Creel, Patrick Fishburn
10.25pm*            Brett Coletta, Mito Pereira, Nicholas Thompson
11.20pm              Harrison Endycott, JT Griffin, Kevin Roy
11.31pm              Nick Voke, Stephen Franken, KK Limbhasut
3.30am Jamie Arnold, Kyle Jones, John Chin
3.52am*              Ryan Ruffels, Zach Wright, Bobby Bai
4.14am Brett Drewitt, Matt Atkins, Robby Ormand

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Jamie Arnold
TV schedule: Live 3am-5am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 505; 2pm-3.30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 4.30am-7am Monday on Fox Sports 505.

Champions Tour
Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Big Cedar Lodge
Buffalo Ridge, Ridgedale, Missouri
1.25am*              Rod Pampling, Kent Jones, Ken Duke                      
1.30am David McKenzie, Bob Estes, Brad Bryant
3.31am*              Stephen Leaney, Robin Byrd, Shane Bertsch

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Top Aussie prediction: Stephen Leaney
TV schedule: Live 6am-8am Thursday on Fox Sports 503; 9am-11am Saturday and Sunday on Fox Sports 507.

* Starting from 10th tee