Although the format is different, Scott last qualified for the Round of 16 in 2005 and was third in 2003 after losing to eventual champion Tiger Woods in a semi-final match that went to a 19th hole.

A 3&2 win over Jordan Spieth on Friday in Austin completed an undefeated run through the group stage for Scott to advance to the knockout stage, the only one of the four Aussies to do so.

Lucas Herbert began Round 3 with his destiny in his hands yet a 5&4 loss to Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and subsequent three-putt at the first playoff hole saw Kanaya advance from Group 7 and leave Scott to fly the Australian flag.

Scott’s next assignment is against match play master Kevin Kisner, the 2019 champion completing a clean sweep of Group 6 with a 4&3 defeat of Justin Thomas and improve his record in the event to 19-6-1.

Making his return to the event for the first time since 2016, Scott knows that the deeper he goes in the weekend matches the more confidence he will take into The Masters in two weeks’ time.

“Bit of a shaky match with Justin (Rose, in Round 1). Neither of us played particularly well but I played well in the next two,” said Scott.

“Now kind of have a run at it over the weekend and see what happens.

“If you play deep in the weekend the confidence will be high, no doubt. If I only play one match, then it’s a normal week, and just carry on. But it feels good to get to the weekend.

“For some reason getting out of the group feels like a real accomplishment at this tournament.

“I feel like I’ve got everything I need ahead of the Masters. Even though there’s a great event on the line this weekend, everyone is thinking about Augusta, it’s so close.”

Coming into his match with Spieth on the back of a win against Rose and a halved match with Keegan Bradley, Scott used a laser approach from the rough to set up a six-footer to take a 1-up lead at the second.

A break off the rocks for Scott allowed the Aussie to pull off an incredible up-and-down par at the third to maintain a lead was extended by a missed par from Spieth on No. 4.

At the par-5 sixth, Scott pushed the lead to 3-up after carving an approach through the trees and two-putting for birdie after another bad break for Spieth, who nearly hit the pin with his 250-yard approach but had too much pace, settling 60 feet away at the back of the green.

An unlikely Spieth comeback attempt seemed to be on after nearly putting in for eagle from off the green at the 13th, but it was too little, too late, whose missed seven-foot birdie putt on 16 sealed Scott’s 3&2 win.

A tied match would have been enough for Herbert to progress to the Round of 16 on debut by he went 3-down through four holes and never got back to level terms against Kanaya, who closed out a 5&4 win with a par at the par-4 14th.

The Victorian appeared to have wrested back momentum with a superb tee shot at the first playoff hole that left him just 99 yards to the hole but Kanaya’s impressive scrambling and Herbert’s missed three-footer for par brought his week to an end.

Marc Leishman ended an otherwise disappointing week with a 3&2 win over Luke List as Min Woo Lee completed his debut WGC Match Player appearance with a 1-1-1 record, Tom Hoge winning the 18th hole to square the match.

Round 3 results
Min Woo Lee tied Tom Hoge
Adam Scott def. Jordan Spieth 3&2
Marc Leishman def. Luke List 3&2
Takumi Kanaya def. Lucas Herbert 5&4

Round of 16 draw
Scottie Scheffler (5) v Billy Horschel (12)
Seamus Power (42) v Tyrrell Hatton (13)
Dustin Johnson (8) v Richard Bland (54)
Jon Rahm (1) v Brooks Koepka (16)
Kevin Kisner (29) v Adam Scott (32)
Will Zalatoris (24) v Kevin Na (25)
Takumi Kanaya (56) v Corey Conners (36)
Collin Morikawa (2) v Abraham Ancer (15)