Former Masters champion Scott shoots 69 in opening round

On a morning where strokes were hard to come by, Adam Scott birdied three of the final four holes Thursday to enjoy a brief tie for the lead after the early wave of tee times at Augusta National.

The 2013 Masters Tournament champion is coming off a tie for 12th at The Players Championship and has three top-10 finishes this year. His confidence coming into the Masters is tempered, but looks to be improving.

“I know where and when my game is coming into really good shape and I can see it coming back and I think I got some good confirmation today with some solid ball striking, which has been coming this year,” he said. “It hasn't been bad by any means, but when I strike it really well I think I strike it with the best of them and I hit a lot of greens and that showed up today. So I feel that kind of validates everything I've been working on the last few weeks.”

PHOTOS: First round at the Masters

Scott shot a 3-under 69 thanks to birdies on 15, 17 and 18.

"It's a great start on a kind of tricky day,” he said. “Even though it wasn't windy, I just felt it was very hard to get it near any of the pins through the first seven holes, whether I was just slightly out of position or the pins were just tough. Those pins on 8 and 14 seem to be getting closer and closer to edges. So it wasn't that easy to give yourself many chances.”

For Scott, patience was key. Being a veteran of Augusta National, he knows a scorecard can change quickly in these conditions.

“I never really got frustrated with anything, even with the bogey on 12, which was a little disappointing, but I knew I would get the right number somewhere and I got that on, I got a nice one into 15, which is always nice, because you don't like fiddling with hitting a 200‑yard‑plus shot into that hole,” he said. “And then 17 and 18 I hit great drives and had good numbers and took advantage. And that's kind of what you have to do, get some momentum going.”