Scott surged to a tie for fourth on day two at the Riviera Country Club with a second round of six-under 65 highlighted by a run of three birdies across four holes around the turn after starting from the 10th tee and punctuated by a birdie from 22 feet at the par-4 second.

It moved Scott to nine-under for the tournament but still seven shots from leader and Presidents Cup teammate Joaquin Niemann (63) who has a two-shot buffer from American Cameron Young (62).

A two-time winner at Riviera including his last victory in 2020, Scott has an affinity with the famed Los Angeles layout but recognises it will need to take a chunk out of the leaders to bring him squarely into the frame.

“I feel comfortable out here and calm,” said Scott, who has gone nine-under in his past 21 holes.

“I would like that to keep going over the weekend, but I’ve got a ton of ground to make up.

“It’s not like I’m even close at the moment. I’m really going to have to chip away and hopefully over 36 holes I can claw my way back in.”

Although he is seven shots from the lead, Scott sees a positive in Young’s emergence as a challenger to Niemann up front, the Chilean seeking his first PGA TOUR title since his breakthrough win at Greenbrier in 2019.

“He’s not seven in front at the moment. Obviously he’s in a good spot, but he’s only leading the tournament by two,” said Scott.

“I think the best thing is there is someone up there close so they can think about each other and maybe get distracted for a few holes and I can quietly creep up on them.”

Backing up from a 67 on day one, Scott’s countryman Cameron Smith added a 68 in the second round to be in a share of seventh at seven-under, one clear of Marc Leishman who rounds out the trio of Aussies inside the top 10 at the halfway mark.

Leishman rolled in an eagle putt from 19 feet at his opening hole to spark his second round, adding birdies at the second, sixth, 14th and 15th holes to move up 33 spots on the leaderboard.

Matt Jones (67) is just one shot back of Leishman in a share of 14th while Cam Davis also qualified for the weekend with a second even-par 71.

Aaron Baddeley, Brett Drewitt and Curtis Luck all made the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida with Rod Pampling’s three-under 69 the best of the Aussies at the Chubb Classic on the Champions Tour.